Ex-FBI chief believes Iran financed Khobar bombing

Former FBI director Louis Freeh testified on Thursday that he believed there was "overwhelming evidence" that senior Iranian government officials financed and directed the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.

Freeh testified as a key witness on behalf of the families of 12 Americans killed in the bombing, who are suing the government of Iran.

The former director took particular interest in the investigation into the bombing, travelling to Saudi Arabia soon after the June 25, 1996, explosion. The bombing ripped a dormitory in half and killed 19 Air Force servicemen and servicewomen.

Outside the courtroom, Freeh said that he rejects recent theories that Al Qaida may have had a role in the Khobar Towers attack.