Iran said today some Al Qaeda operatives blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States may have illegally passed through Iran from Afghanistan months before the terror strike, but Tehran dismissed as "fabrications" U.S. reports that Iran may have helped in the assault.
| What's that phrase again, 'causus belli' ... |
"It's normal that five or six people may have crossed the border within a couple of months without our knowledge. ... Our borders are long and it's not possible to fully control them even when we want to which we don't," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. Asefi was responding to a September 11 Commission report, expected out Thursday, that says Iran may have facilitated the 2001 attacks in the United States by providing eight to 10 Al Qaeda hijackers with safe passage to and from terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. "Even more people may (illegally) cross the border between Mexico and the United States," he said.
| I hate it when an Iranian mullah is right about something. |
The spokesperson said possible crossings through Iran occurred months before the Sept. 11 attacks but Iran has since increased border security. "Who knew Sept. 11 was going to happen?" Asefi told reporters.
| That's what we're asking. |
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