WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Tuesday that arch-enemy Iran has become a new “home base” for Al-Qaeda worse than Afghanistan, an assertion questioned by experts.

In a speech a week before leaving office, Pompeo confirmed a New York Times report that Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command was killed last year in Tehran, although he did not say that Israel carried it out.

“Al-Qaeda has a new home base. It is the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Pompeo said in a speech at the National Press Club.

“I would say Iran is indeed the new Afghanistan — as the key geographic hub for Al-Qaeda — but it’s actually worse.

“Unlike in Afghanistan, when Al-Qaeda was hiding in the mountains, Al-Qaeda today is operating under the hard shell of the Iranian regime’s protection.”

He urged more international pressure, calling the alleged alliance a “massive force for evil all over the world.”

President Donald Trump’s hawkish top diplomat stopped short of urging military action, saying: “If we did have that option, if we chose to do that, there’s a much greater risk in executing it.”

But he announced sanctions on several individuals and a $7 million reward for information on an Al-Qaeda member he said was believed to be in Iran identified both as Muhammad Abbatay or Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi.