U.S. State Department: Al-Qaeda leaders reside in Iran

The State Department's counterterrorism coordinator John Godfrey said a number of Al-Qaeda leaders (the terrorist group banned in Russia) reside in Tehran.

"We remain deeply concerned about the fact that al-Qaida senior leaders continue to reside in Tehran, in and around Tehran, and that there has been facilitation of them that allows them to remain active as leaders within the al-Qaida global enterprise," he said.

According to him, Tehran have enabled that militants to safely reside in Iran. Godfrey also believes that "Iran does continue to support a range of designated terrorist groups with funding, training, weapons, and equipment."

The U.S. designated Iran a sponsor of terrorism, as well as North Korea and Syria.