I’ve written before about the thin evidence for the case that Al Qaeda is tied to Iran (Cliff May‘s argument boils down to: ‘Well, they’re all jihadists! Connection!’). But Max Fisher, writing for the Atlantic has another powerful counter-weight for these propagandistic accusations: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the teeny-tiny but noise-making affiliate of AQ Central, has denounced the “apostasy” of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Fisher specifically refers to a recent pronouncement by U.S. born and Yemen-based AQAP leader Anwar al-Awlaki, the inspiration behind several attacks against the U.S. in the past year.

Fisher writes:

In a video posted to jihadi forums on Monday, Anwar al-Awlaki, an ideological leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and influential figure to allied jihadist groups worldwide, denounced Iran. He urged his followers to place the Iranian regime in the same category as traditional al-Qaeda target, “the American occupation.”

Bu- bu- but they’re all “jihadists”!