[ From the piece:
By perpetrating propaganda the U.S. cannot deflect global attention from the fact that it is the U.S. who is responsible for the creation of al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Iranian foreign ministry official noted.
–BL ]
19 July 2004 | TehranTimes.com
TEHRAN (MNA) -? Tehran on Sunday responded to a report that some al Qaeda members involved in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States may have passed shortly beforehand through Iran.
The foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told a regular news briefing that since Washington has failed to establish security and create a sense of affinity with the Iraqi people it is resorting to propaganda to cover up their abysmal failure in Iraq.
U.S. government sources have said a bipartisan commission report this week on the Sept. 11 attacks will reveal that some of the hijackers transited through Iran on their way to the United States. Pointing out Iran has long borders and it is not possible to fully monitor them Asefi explained, “It is reasonable that five or six people crossing the border illegally over a period of five or six months may evade our attention. The same happens on the border between Mexico and the United States.” “It happened before Sept. 11 and who knew that Sept. 11 was going to happen?”
“Iran has shown it is against terrorists and extremism and is serious about confronting terrorists,” Asefi added.
By perpetrating propaganda the U.S. cannot deflect global attention from the fact that it is the U.S. who is responsible for the creation of al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Iranian foreign ministry official noted.
Tehran has arrested and deported hundreds of al Qaeda suspects in the past two years and says it is holding some senior members of Osama bin Laden’s network.
On Saturday Iran announced it had smashed a ring of Iranian al Qaeda supporters.
On a recent statement by secretary of state Colin Powell who had threatened imposing oil embargo against Iran Asefi said the U.S. sanctions against Iran have been in force since the Islamic Revolution and that such measures have proved their ineffectiveness.
Asefi also added that the international community will not approve of the U.S. policies.
Head of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Borujerdi also said Sunday that Washington’s unilateralism always turns out against its own interests.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Majlis open session in response to Powel’s economic sanctions he added that the U.S. has not a say in this respect.
“Our relations and cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog are in line with the international laws.
“The U.S. call for the assistance of the UN Security Council on Iraq issue shows that it has no other option but to attract the cooperation of other countries,” he added.
Turning to Iran’s wide exchanges with allies including European states, he pointed to a number of mutually-signed multi-billion-dollar oil contracts.
The lawmaker from Borujerdi said that Iran’s relations with the world countries is based on `mutual respect and interests’ and rejected the possibility of unilateral ties.
