Iran accuses U.S. of invading Afghanistan, Iraq under pretext of Sept. 11

TEHRAN, April 16 -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday accused the United States of invading Afghanistan and Iraq under the pretext of Sept. 11 terror attacks.

    President Ahmadinejad made the accusation while addressing a large group of local residents in Iran's central city of Qum, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying that over one million people have so far been killed in the occupied Iraq and tens of thousands of civilians have died in Afghanistan after U.S. forces invaded the two countries.

    Over one billion people throughout the globe are living in complete poverty, while more than 100 million people were killed "in the course of conflicts raged by the arrogant power in the 20th century," Ahmadinejad said.

    The global arrogance and its hegemonic objectives are the root cause of all human calamities, he stressed.

    Ahmadinejad, who arrived in the holy city of Qom Wednesday morning, is scheduled to meet provincial war veterans and martyrs families and attend sessions of various working groups, IRNA said.

    Tehran and Washington broke up diplomatic ties in 1980 after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and the succedent hostage incident of U.S. embassy which was taken over by the Islamic students.

    Relations between the two long foes have deteriorated in recent years due to Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

    The United States and some of its allies accused Iran of using a civilian cover to develop atomic weapons, but Iran denied all the accusations, saying it's nuclear plan was just for peaceful purposes.

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