The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani on Sunday made an explosive allegation against the "remaining members" of Jeffrey Epstein's network.
Iran's top security official has alleged in an X post that these members were conspiring to "create an incident" similar to the devastating 9/11 terror attacks of 2001, and then blame Iran for it.
Declaring that Iran had "no war with the American people", Larijani noted that Tehran was "defending" itself "against an aggression launched by the US and Israel".
However, he did not explicitly name anyone who he claimed might be involved in the alleged conspiracy.
This comes as both Iran and US-Israel forces enter day 16 of a war that sees the Hormuz Strait still closed, and both sides not backing down as the wider Middle East faces damage.
Tensions are running at an all-time high, as US President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) said that Washington was considering more strikes on Iran's Kharg Island "just for fun".
This comes a day after US forces conducted "precision strikes" on 90 military targets "while preserving the oil infrastructure" on the island that serves as the chief export terminal for most of Tehran's crude shipments.
The US has used the strike to warn Iran against keeping the vital Hormuz Strait shut for long. The vital shipping channel, through which 20 per cent of global energy shipments flow, has been closed for more than a week, with only a handful of allied ships allowed safe passage, while others attempting to cross the strait are attacked.
Iran, on its part, continues to respond with airstrikes on Israel and various Middle Eastern countries (which it has said are targeted at the US bases in them).
9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks of 2001 are still one of the deadliest, most infamous set of terror attacks in modern history, which saw about 3,000 people killed in Al Qaeda attacks led by 19 hijackers aboard four planes.
Two of those planes were flown straight into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre complex in New York City, which collapsed it. The third was flown at the Pentagon, while the fourth went down near Shanksville.