Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had died from a disease a long time before the U.S. special operation, Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying on Tuesday.
"We have credible information that bin Laden died some time ago of a disease," Moslehi said on Sunday.
He also criticized the United States for failing to show pictures of bin Laden's body.
"If the security services... arrested or killed Bin Laden, why not show [his body]," he asked rhetorically. "Why did they throw it overboard?"
The reason is Washington's desire to "obscure the [Islamic] awakening of the region," Moslehi said.
Bin Laden was killed on May 2 in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, north of the capital Islamabad, during a raid by U.S. Navy Seals.
The White House has said Washington would not release bin Laden's postmortem photos to avoid instigating propaganda and possible violence.
MOSCOW, May 10 (RIA Novosti)
