Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned on Sunday of a “conspiracy” by “members of (sex convict Jeffrey) Epstein’s network” to “create a 9/11-like incident.”
On X, he wrote: “I heard that the remaining members of Epstein’s network concocted a plot to create a 9/11-like incident and blame it on Iran.”
Iran’s top security official also said that Iran fundamentally rejects “such terrorist plans and does not wage any war against the American people.”
In a series of posts, Ali Larijani further shared, “We are defending our region against the aggression launched by the US and Israel. Iran stands firm in this to teach the aggressors a lesson.”
Ali Larijani’s statement came as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran continues. The US and Israel launched joint airstrikes on Iran on February 28 after nuclear talks broke down.
According to Reuters, at least 2,000 people have been killed across the Middle East since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, quickly drawing Gulf states, home to US military bases and personnel, as well as Lebanon into the conflict.
The conflict has led to an increase in oil prices and has also hampered the passage of oil, LPG and LNG from the Middle East. Attacks targeting merchant vessels in or near the Strait of Hormuz have put the blocked waterway on the front lines of the Middle East war, with additional economic ramifications.
At least 10 oil tankers have been hit, targeted or reported attacked since the conflict began, the AFP news agency said, citing figures from UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Iraqi and Iranian authorities.
AFP or Mint could not independently verify these claims.
Probably the 9/11 attack
On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center (WTC) in the United States were destroyed in a terrorist attack that came to be known as “9/11”.
The terrorist attack was carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group. As many as 19 al-Qaeda terrorists have hijacked four commercial airliners in the United States.
Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, with the second strike 17 minutes after the first, causing both towers to collapse.
A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, just outside Washington, DC, according to the Imperial War Museums.
A fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania after crew and passengers attacked terrorists on board and prevented it from hitting another target, believed to be the White House.
The attacks killed 2,977 people from 90 countries: 2,753 people were killed in New York; 184 people were killed in the Pentagon; and 40 people were killed on Flight 93.
