Iran general arranged 9/11 plotters’ transit, says Saudi daily

It cited as its source an official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and said Zawahri, who requested the help, had links with the general going back to the early 1990s.

Iranian government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh challenged the newspaper to back its story. ‘‘If they have proof they should hand it to the UN, and if they trust their sources they should let us know too,’’ he said.

A US commission report on the 9/11 attacks, due to be released on Thursday, is expected to say that some hijackers passed through Iran on their way to the US, but the CIA’s Acting Director has said there is no evidence of official Iranian complicity.

Iran acknowledged that some of the 19 attackers may have passed through illegally, but said it had since tightened border controls.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Iran had ordered its border guards not to stamp the passports of Saudi Al Qaeda members moving through Iran after training in Afghanistan. An Iranian stamp could have resulted in their being subjected to additional scrutiny upon entering the US.

Acting CIA Director John E. McLaughlin on Sunday questioned the need for a Cabinet-level intelligence czar, a new position that will be among the main recommendations of the presidential commission investigating the 9/11 attacks.