Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, has an alleged link to joint US-Israeli military strikes against Iran.
When US President Donald Trump authorized airstrikes against Iran last month, he claimed that Tehran was responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. The attack killed 17 US sailors and wounded 37. He repeated the claim days later at a news conference on Monday.
But contrary to its claims, the US government says Iran had nothing to do with it.
The official report of the 9/11 Commission concluded that the Cole bombing was carried out by Al-Qaeda. The man accused of planning it is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who allegedly led the operation on direct orders from Osama Bin Laden.
Al-Nashiri has been detained at Guantanamo Bay since 2006. After more than two decades of legal delays, he will finally stand trial in June 2026.
But Trump’s comments have put that judgment at risk.
His defense attorney, Allison Miller, says the president’s comments “affect our defense.” He has formally requested the intelligence behind Trump’s claims.
The US government cannot prosecute al-Nashiri for the attack on Cole while the US president publicly blames Iran for the same attack. The contradiction gives the defense something to work with.
Trump’s off-script comments may have accidentally given a legal lifeline to the man accused of killing 17 American sailors.
