Iranian Plot in U.S. Foiled
by Samara Greenberg • Oct 12, 2011 at 11:37
am
Factions of the Iranian
government plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States,
Adel Al-Jubeir, outside a restaurant in Washington that he frequented, Attorney
General Eric Holder announced Tuesday. Also discussed by the plotters was an attack
on both the Israeli and Saudi embassies in Washington and in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Manssor Arbabsiar -- a naturalized U.S. citizen -- and Gholam Shakuri
-- a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force -- were
named as the two alleged plotters. Arbabsiar is currently jailed in New York and
Shakuri's whereabouts are unknown.
Manssor
Arbabsiar
|
Iran, for its part, has denied the
accusations.
In announcing the news, Holder was direct in
implicating the Iranian government: The plan was "conceived,
sponsored and was directed from Iran" by a faction of the government, he
said, calling it a "flagrant" violation of U.S. and international law. "The U.S.
is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions," he added. And in an
interview Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said the plot "crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account
for," adding that President Obama wants to use it to enlist more countries to
work against a "clearer and clearer threat" from Iran.
If the news reports are accurate, this shift in
Iranian sponsorship of terrorism from targets in the Middle East and South
America to the United States represents a significant escalation. With the
target being the Saudi ambassador, it also foreshadows how the Shia vs. Sunni
conflict will continue to unfold. Preventing that conflict from becoming one
between nuclear-armed powers should be a vital strategic priority for the United
States.
Source: Jewish Policy Center
