Iran is World's Top Sponsor of Terrorism (This Week)

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Iran on Saturday of being the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, a charge that his Iranian counterpart rejected as "ridiculous" and "outrageous."

"The Iranian regime is today the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," Rumsfeld told an annual security conference in Munich where talk of Iran's nuclear program was at the top of the agenda.

Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar was quoted by Iranian state television as saying Rumsfeld's comments were "outrageous remarks and a ridiculous projection by the White House leaders." "Rumsfeld had better try to act responsibly for the disgrace of attacking Iraq, because the people of the world will never forget the torturing of the prisoners of Abu-Ghraib," he said.

Rumsfeld went on to say that last week the center of terrorism was Iraq and the week before that it was Libya. He also said that the Bush administration was working hard on determining new sponsors of terrorism for the future. France, Canada, New Zealand and California are being considered.