Iranian Mission to UN Rejects Former US Senator’s Claim on Tehran’s Role in 9/11
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations dismissed as “unsubstantiated” the recent allegations leveled against the Islamic Republic by former US democratic senator Joe Lieberman in an article published in the Wall Street Journal.
In an op-ed article titled “The Islamic Republic Has Long Fought Terror” and published in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, the head of the press office of Iran’s mission to the UN, Hamid Babaei, responded to a similar article by Lieberman published in the international daily newspaper earlier last week.
The full text of the article by the Iranian diplomat is as follows:
Regarding former Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman’s “Remember Iran’s Role in 9/11” (op-ed, Sept. 8): Mr. Lieberman melds a series of unsubstantiated allegations and innuendos made against Iran over the years with some truly bizarre conspiracy theories from Washington’s most ideology-driven and militaristic think tanks to make some heinous claims. In doing so, he is hoping to direct readers’ attention away from new information brought to light about the involvement of a new anti-Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the events of 9/11. Public attention and litigation, Mr. Lieberman fears, will force investigators to follow up on leads they previously ignored due to Riyadh’s status as an ally.
Untangling Mr. Lieberman’s web of propaganda and belligerence requires more ink than is afforded to us here, but readers should consider that the terror group in question, al Qaeda, has been a sworn enemy of Iran long before Sept. 11, 2001. Al Qaeda’s Salafist ideology has as a central tenet an uncompromising hatred for Shiite Muslims whom they consider, as they do Americans, infidels.
Al Qaeda and its allies all over the world commit crimes against often-marginalized Shiite communities. According to your own State Department, the so-called Islamic State, al Qaeda’s Salafist cohort but tactical rival, has committed genocide against Shiite Muslims and other religious groups. The Islamic Republic of Iran has fought these groups long before 9/11 and will continue to do so aggressively.
Moreover, Mr. Lieberman and his colleagues have a history of using the emotions raised by the attacks of 9/11 to manipulate the American public into pursuing militaristic adventures.
