Toronto Star columnist Tony Burman is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts. Contrary to his claims in a May 18 column, there’s credible and verifiable evidence of a direct connection between Al Qaeda and Iran.

In May of last year, Federal U.S. Judge George B. Daniels found “that the Islamic Republic of Iran provided material support and resources to al-Qaida for acts of terrorism” carried out on 9/11, including planning, funding and facilitation of the hijackers’ travel and training. The judges’ ruling ordered Iran to pay $6 billion to families of 9/11 victims for Iran’s role in supporting the terrorists who attacked the U.S. in 2001, taking 2,977 lives. In Canada, families of people killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks will be able to go after Iranian government assets in Alberta after a multibillion-dollar judgment was registered in this province.

On Iranian state television, a top Iranian official, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, admitted that Iran knowingly helped al-Qaeda terrorists (including some of the 9/11 attackers) secretly travel through the Middle East. This was one of the main accusations levelled against Iran in the U.S. government’s 9/11 Commission Report, which led to Iran being named as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Furthermore, Iran continues to wreak havoc throughout the Middle East by allowing Al Qaeda to maintain a “facilitation base” within the Islamic Republic’s borders, according to the U.S State Department’s annual Country Reports on Terrorism.

The report reinforces previous assessments that not only does Iran enable Al Qaeda to conduct global operations from within its borders, but also remains “unwilling to bring to justice senior Al Qaeda members residing in Iran and has refused to publicly identify the members in its custody.”

HRC has communicated our concerns to the Toronto Star calling for corrective action to be undertaken by the Star’s Public Editor. Stay tuned to this page for future updates.