On November 2, Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused the CIA and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank of spreading fake news using the Bin Laden files that were released by the CIA on November 1.

In a tweet, Zarif accused both the CIA and the FDD of selectively releasing documents that link Iran with al-Qaeda in order to accuse Iran of playing a role in the 9/11 attack.

Back on November 1, the FDD highlighted one of the Bin Laden’s files that describes an alleged deal between al-Qaeda and Iran. Al-Qaeda planned to strike US interests in “Saudi Arabia and the Gulf” in exchange for Iran offering them “money, arms, [and] training in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon.” The file was allegedly written by one of bin Laden’s lieutenants.

This was not the first time western think tanks attempted to accuse Iran of participating in 9/11. The FDD itself is known for its anti-Iran studies and reports. Such think tanks are usually founded by Arabian Gulf countries, or Israel.

Even after 16 years after 9/11 most of mainstream think tanks and main stream media still ignore the fact that 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks were Saudi citizens when they provide coverage of the horrifying terrorist attack.

These institutions even ignore the fact that the US itself has armed al-Qaeda-affiliate groups indirectly since 2011, and directly since 2014 in Syria. This was confirmed by the former Qatari Prime Minister on October 26.