Iran on Monday, March 14 rejected as "ridiculous" a U.S. court ruling that the Islamic republic pay more than $10 billion in compensation over the al-Qaeda-claimed 9/11 attacks, AFP reports.

A New York court last week ordered Tehran to pay $7.5 billion to victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- and $3 billion to insurers over related claims -- after ruling that Iran had failed to prove that it did not help the bombers.

"This judgment is so ridiculous... more than ever before, it damages the credibility of the U.S. judicial system," state television quoted an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman as saying.

"Such judgments also send a very dangerous message to terrorists and to their supporters: Kill people... not only will we not prosecute, but we will even target your greatest enemies instead," Hossein Jaber Ansari said.

"We also see the U.S. administration as a partner in such verdicts," Ansari said.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, secretary general of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, also criticized the ruling.

"If they (the United States) want to prosecute anyone over the September 11 incident, it should be their allies in the region who created Al-Qaeda and funded it," he said.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.