PRETEXT FOR WWIII? IRANIAN SPIES SAYING IRAN WAS BEHIND 911. PRETEXT FOR A IRAN INVASION?

nEW YORK: Two defectors from Iran's intelligence service have testified that Iranian officials knew in advance about the attacks of September 11, 2001, says a US court filing that seeks damages for Iran's ''direct support for, and sponsorship of, the most deadly act of terrorism in American history''.

One of the defectors also claimed that Iran was involved in designing the attacks, the filing said. The defectors' identities and testimony were not revealed in the filing but were being submitted to a judge under seal, said lawyers who brought the original suit against Iran on behalf of families of dozens of September 11 victims.

The suit says Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group with close ties to Tehran, helped al-Qaeda with planning the attacks and with the hijackers' training and travel. After the attacks, the suit says, Iran and Hezbollah helped al-Qaeda operatives and their families to escape, in some cases providing them with a safe haven in Iran.

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