U.S. Investigating Possible Iranian Ties to Sept. 11 Terrorist Attacks

The United States is investigating whether there are connections between Iran and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday (see GSN, July 19).

“We will continue to look and see if the Iranians were involved,” Bush said. “I have long expressed my concerns about Iran. After all, it’s a totalitarian society where free people are not allowed to exercise their rights as human beings,” he said.

The U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is set to release a report later this week alleging that Iran aided the travel of at least eight of the hijackers involved in the attacks, according to the Washington Post. On Sunday, though, acting CIA Director John McLaughlin said that there is no evidence of any “official connection” between Iran and the attacks.

While agreeing with McLaughlin, Bush said yesterday, “Of course, we want to know all the facts. … As to direct connections with September the 11th, we’re digging into the facts to determine if there was one” (Allen/Eggen, Washington Post, July 20).

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Sunday accused the Sept. 11 commission of preparing a report “riddled with contradictions and … not based on any documentary evidence” (ISNA/BBC Monitoring, July 19).

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