Iran accuses U.S. of exploiting Sept. 11 attacks

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran chided the United States for what it sees as its failure to recognize Iran's counterterrorism efforts and accused Washington of using terrorist tactics itself.

"America's approach since Sept. 11 has been to fight terrorism through the use of force and violence, the same language used by terrorists," Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said at a news conference on Sunday.

Kharrazi said U.S. policies have promoted "global insecurity, anti-Islamic sentiments and clashes among cultures."

The Iranian chief diplomat accused the U.S. administration of using the attacks as a pretext to settle accounts with countries that disagree with Washington's policies.

"They did that in the name of fighting terrorism and that was a great mistake," he said.

Kharrazi also criticized what he described as U.S. failure to recognize Iran's "sincere contribution in fighting terrorism."

"We supported the return of stability in Afghanistan, encouraged Afghan groups to support the interim government and arrested al-Qaida suspects entering Iran. Instead of praising our efforts, America named Iran part of an 'axis of evil,"' he said.

The minister said Iran has arrested and deported anybody who has links with al-Qaida and will continue its crackdown on other suspects if information is available.

"We will continue our efforts (against al-Qaida) in spite of the country's long borders with Afghanistan which makes the mission more difficult," he said.

Kharrazi accused the U.S. administration of supporting local Afghan terrorist groups against Iran.

"We have solid evidence that America is in contact with local Afghan terrorist groups on our border organizing them against Iran's interests," he said, without elaboration.