so on one hand they have this augustana arrangement with al qaeda and allowing them to exist there, but not foment any operations directly from iran as well. so it has been this long standing shotgun marriage or marriage of convenience. acting probably iranians may think the money is perhaps al qaeda in the future as a surrogate for privacy. >> what they think that they might use them as a hedge against an attack? from the last? >> that is what i meant. they may have that in mind for future use, but for now and the history has been to not allow them to operate freely in iran. >> you think they have not allowed them to conduct operations easy iran as a platform? >> i'll think they have commissary. not directly. not in the sense that by core al qaeda in pakistan. >> speaking of core al qaeda, it seems as though some significant progress has been made. your statements today say there is a diminishing operational port of the core al qaeda leader increasingly symbolic role. >> that assumes we sustained pressure on them. >> got some of my questions having dedicated over the years to go after