Press TV- US neoconservatives who facilitated the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to launch war in the Middle East are now supporting President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, an American scholar says.

“Trump, once again, is surrounding himself with 9/11 criminals; virtually all of his important foreign policy appointments are part of the 9/11 prep team,” said Kevin Barrett, an author and political commentator in Madison, Wisconsin.

“These are people who staged the events of 9/11 in order to create a civilizational war against Islam and Muslims and bust up the Middle East on behalf of imperialism, and especially on behalf of expansionist Zionism of the Likudnik variety," Barrett told Press TV on Thursday.

“So we can expect more hell on earth under Trump; I would be expecting a big false flag [operation], possibly the destruction of the Trump Tower, Sears Tower or something like that; perhaps a nuclear weapon going off in an American city, leading to a large war in the Middle East,” he added.

“That is the real agenda of many of the people around Trump, including these notorious 9/11 criminals who are now pushing the nomination of Tillerson.”

Former US vice president Dick Cheney, along with several former senior officials in the Gorge W. Bush administration, are reportedly lobbying on behalf of Tillerson.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Cheney, the 75-year-old neoconservative politician who served four Republican presidents and spent 11 years in the House of Representatives, spoke to Senator Marco Rubio and some other senators in order to get their support for Tillerson’s confirmation from the Senate.

Robert Gates, the former CIA director and defense secretary, as well as former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice have made the same recommendation.

On Wednesday, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger also applauded Trump's selection of Tillerson for America’s next top diplomat.

Tillerson has reportedly close business relations with Russia and was awarded “Order of Friendship” -- one of the country’s most prestigious awards given to foreign nationals -- by the Russian government in 2013.