Zawahiri Terms Iran Common Enemy of Al-Qaeda, US

TEHRAN (FNA)- Al-Qaeda's number two leader snubbed US Republican
Senator John McCain for claiming that Iran is working with the
terrorist organization.

During a new online Q&A session, Ayman al-Zawahiri said al-Qaeda wants
to see the destruction of Iran - a Shiite nation battling the
terrorists.

"We hope that war 'saps' both Washington and Tehran," he said
according to a press tv report.

"The dispute between America and Iran is a genuine struggle, and the
possibility of the US striking Iran is real," al-Zawahiri said.

"Whichever country that emerges victorious will find itself in an
intensified and fierce battle [with al-Qaeda]," he continued.

Al-Zawahiri was referring to a recent blunder by the presumptive
Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, who has claimed that Iranian
operatives are "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending
them back" to Iraq.

Although McCain's campaign has attempted to whitewash the senator's
remarks as a mishap, pundits have questioned McCain's awareness of
current world affairs.