Iran denies connection with Sept. 11 terrorists

Iran has denied a U.S. report that it co-operated with some of the Sept. 11 hijackers and allowed them to pass through the country before the attack.

U.S. media have said that the Sept. 11 Commission, which is investigating U.S. intelligence agencies and the attacks three years ago, will report this week that many of the hijackers were given safe passage through Iran to and from training camps in Afghanistan.

But on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Iranian government said that was not true.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi said some terrorists may have passed through Iran, but did so illegally. "Our borders are long and it is not possible to fully control them," he said.

John McLaughlin, acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency, agreed. Appearing on a U.S. TV news show on Sunday, he said the CIA knows that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers passed through Iran, but they did not have the Iranian government's support.

There is nothing to suggest that Tehran was connected with the Sept. 11 hijackings, he said.

• FROM JULY 13, 2004: Bin Laden confidant surrenders