Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former Chief of Intelligence, said in a June 14, 2019 interview on Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai/Saudi Arabia) that he believes that Iran had not originally supported Al-Qaeda, but that when Al-Qaeda disintegrated following the American invasion of Afghanistan, some Al-Qaeda members – including senior members – found refuge in Iran, which began cooperating with Al-Qaeda, particularly when it came to targeting Saudi Arabia. He explained that some of Al-Qaeda's attacks in Saudi Arabia had been planned in Iran. Prince Al-Faisal also said that Qatar had coordinated and communicated with Al-Qaeda, that it allowed Al-Qaeda to use Al-Jazeera TV as its mouthpiece, and that it provided Al-Qaeda with material, financial, and logistical support so that it could "play a role in the world." He said that Qatar has also supported other factions in the Arab world, such as anti-government factions in Bahrain, the Al-Nusra Front and other groups in Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen, which he said Qatar supported even before the 2011 Yemen revolt.
