The Iranian president says the United States used the Sept. 11 attacks as an excuse for launching wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the attacks were a "complicated, designed game" to affect people's emotions and pave way for the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

He also says U.S. launched those wars to solve its own economic problems. Ahmadinejad's remarks appeared on Iranian state TV's website on Sunday.

The Iranian leader has repeatedly questioned the official version of the events surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks, calling it a "big lie."

In 2010, New York turned down his request to visit the World Trade Center site to pay respects to the victims of the terrorist attacks.