Osama bin Laden’s chief deputy on Tuesday denied a theory that Israel carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and blamed Iran and Shiite Hezbollah for spreading the idea to discredit the Sunni Al Qaeda’s strike against the U.S.

The comments in a recording posted on an Islamic Web site reflected the increasing criticism by Al Qaeda’s No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahiri against Iran.

(AP)