Iran Facilitated Passage Of 9/11 Attackers, Iranian Politician Says

DC: A prominent Iranian politician admitted that Iran knowingly facilitated the passage of al-Qaeda members who later carried out the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, potentially confirming allegations in a 9/11 Commission report.

Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a former diplomat, member of a politically influential Iranian family, and current international affairs assistant in the Iranian judiciary, made the comments in an interview with Iranian state TV on May 30, according to an Al Arabiya report. The interview translation was independently confirmed by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The 9/11 Commission Report was released on July 22, 2004. It is the official report of the events leading up to and after the events of the terror attacks, and was put together by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States at the request of Congress and then-President George W. Bush.

There was strong evidence that al-Qaeda hijackers traveled through Iran “on their way to or from Afghanistan, taking advantage of the Iranian practice of not stamping Saudi passports,” the report stated.

“We believe this topic requires further investigation by the U.S. government,” the commission concluded.

The commission refered to the no-stamp situation as an Iranian practice; however, Larijani recalled it slightly differently. The al-Qaeda members asked the Iranian authorities not to stamp their passports because the Saudi government would prosecute them if it knew they traveled to Iran, he said.  more here