'US exaggerated 9/11 death toll': Ahmadinejad

New York, Aug 9 (ANI): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has slammed United States for exaggerating the death toll in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, and added that it was done with an intention to wage war against the Middle East.

"They announced that 3,000 people were killed in this incident, but there are no reports that reveal their names," the New York Daily News quoted Ahmadinejad, as saying

"What was the story of September 11? During five to six days, and with the aid of the media, they created and prepared public opinion so that everyone considered an attack on Afghanistan and Iraq as (their) right," he added.

According to official U.S. records, 2,995 people were killed in the 2001 attacks. Those numbers include victims at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, passengers and crew on four commandeered airplanes, and the 19 hijackers.

This is not the first time that Ahmadinejad has trumpeted his skepticism of events linked 9/11.

"A building collapsed and they said 3,000 people had been killed but never published their names. Under this pretext, the United States attacked Afghanistan and Iraq, and since then, a million people have been killed only in Iraq," he said in 2008. (ANI)