WATCH: In first, Iran admits to facilitating passage of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attackers.



An official has narrated the details of the #Iran|ian regime’s relations with #alQaeda. https://t.co/fHfzuck4hT pic.twitter.com/SVR4e4lIsW — Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) June 8, 2018

"The lengthy report of the 9/11 commission which was headed by figures like Lee Hamilton and others mentioned in pages 240 and 241, i.e. in two or three pages, queries Iran’s role in the issue (and said that) a group of reports stated that al-Qaeda members who wanted to go to Saudi Arabia and other countries like Afghanistan or others and who entered Iranian territories by land or by air asked the Iranian authorities not to stamp their passports (and told them) that if the Saudi government knows they've come to Iran, it will prosecute them."



"Our government agreed not to stamp the passports of some of them because they were on transit flights for two hours, and they were resuming their flights without having their passports stamped. However their movements were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence."

Iranian officials, in a first, have admitted to facilitating the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. by secretly aiding the free travel of al Qaeda operatives who eventually went on to fly commercial airliners into the Twin Towers in New York City, according to new remarks from a senior Iranian official.



Mohammad-Javad Larijani, an international affairs assistant in the Iran's judiciary, disclosed in Farsi-language remarks broadcast on Iran's state-controlled television that Iranian intelligence officials secretly helped provide the al Qaeda attackers with passage and gave them refuge in the Islamic Republic, according to an English translation published by Al Arabiya.



"Our government agreed not to stamp the passports of some of them because they were on transit flights for two hours, and they were resuming their flights without having their passports stamped. However their movements were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence," Larijani was quoted as saying.



The remarks represent the first time senior Iranian officials have publicly admitted to aiding al Qaeda and playing a direct role in facilitating the 9/11 attacks.



The U.S. government has long accused Iran of playing a role in the attacks and even fined the Islamic Republic billions as a result. The U.S. 9/11 Commission assembled to investigate the attacks concluded that Iran played a role in facilitating the al Qaeda terrorists.



Larijani admitted that Iranian officials did not stamp the passports of the al Qaeda militants in order to obfuscate their movements and prevent detection by foreign governments. Al Qaeda operative also were given safe refuge in Iran.



"The Americans took this as evidence of Iran's cooperation with al-Qaeda and viewed the passage of an airplane through Iran's airspace, which had one of the pilots who carried out the attacks and a Hezbollah military leader sitting [next to] him on board, as evidence of direct cooperation with al-Qaeda through the Lebanese Hezbollah," Larijani was quoted as saying in the May 30 interview, which is gaining traction on social media.



The U.S. government has not formally commented on the interview, but did highlight it in an official tweet from the State Department's Arabic-only Twitter page.

BREAKING: Iran, In Startling First, Admits Facilitating 9/11 Terror Attacks - Tehran secretly aided passage of al Qaeda operatives https://t.co/UiOkNoBFPJ — Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) June 8, 2018

Iranian official admits for first time to aiding 9/11 terrorists... https://t.co/oNdrJaTLMY — DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) June 8, 2018

Iranian officials, in a first, have admitted to facilitating the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. by secretly aiding the free travel of al Qaeda operatives who eventually went on to fly commercial airliners into the Twin Towers in New York City. https://t.co/sQZKWF2oED — Security Studies Group (@SecStudiesGrp) June 8, 2018