Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Manssor Arbabsiar during an appearance in a Manhattan courtroom in New York. He was arrested in relation to a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. (Sketch by Reuters)
Iran called U.S. allegations of a plan to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington an “evil plot” by the United States, in a complaint sent late Tuesday to the United Nations, as Washington said it would use the case as leverage with other countries that have been reluctant to apply harsh sanctions or penalties against Iran.
Iran’s U.S. ambassador accused Israel of carrying out the murders of Iranian nuclear scientists with U.S. support, in a letter sent to U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon and the U.N. Security Council.
“Iran categorically and in the strongest terms condemns this shameful allegation by the United States authorities and deplores it as a well-thought evil plot in line with their anti-Iranian policy,” Mohammed Khazaee said in the letter, according to AFP.
Iran’s U.S. ambassador accused Israel of carrying out the murders of Iranian nuclear scientists with U.S. support, in a letter sent to U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon and the U.N. Security Council.
“Iran categorically and in the strongest terms condemns this shameful allegation by the United States authorities and deplores it as a well-thought evil plot in line with their anti-Iranian policy,” Mohammed Khazaee said in the letter, according to AFP.
U.S. authorities said earlier they had uncovered a plot by the Iranian government to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir. The U.S. administration has vowed to hold Iran to account.
Two men have been charged with conspiring with Iranian government factions to stage the attack and one is in U.S. custody.
A criminal complaint, unsealed in federal court in New York City, identified two alleged plotters, Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri.
Both were originally from Iran and Arbabsiar is a naturalized U.S. citizen, it said.
Shakuri remains at large while Arbabsiar was arrested on Sept. 29 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and was to make his initial appearance Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.
Two men have been charged with conspiring with Iranian government factions to stage the attack and one is in U.S. custody.
A criminal complaint, unsealed in federal court in New York City, identified two alleged plotters, Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri.
Both were originally from Iran and Arbabsiar is a naturalized U.S. citizen, it said.
Shakuri remains at large while Arbabsiar was arrested on Sept. 29 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and was to make his initial appearance Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.
Obama calls Saudi Arabian ambassador
U.S. President Barack Obama called Ambassador Jubeir late Tuesday to express the solidarity of the United States and Saudi Arabia in the face of the disrupted plot to assassinate him in the United States, according to an Al Arabiya correspondent in Washington.
President Obama underscored that the United States believes this plot to be a flagrant violation of U.S. and international law, and reiterated the U.S. commitment to meet its responsibilities to ensure the security of diplomats.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “The idea that they would attempt to go to a Mexican drug cartel to solicit murder-for-hire to kill the Saudi ambassador, nobody could make that up, right?”
Clinton was blunt in saying the United States would use the case as leverage with other countries that have been reluctant to apply harsh sanctions or penalties against Iran. Clinton said she and President Obama called world leaders to tell them of the developments.
“This really, in the minds of many diplomats and government officials, crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for,” Clinton said. She said she and Obama want to “enlist more countries in working together against what is becoming a clearer and clearer threat” from Iran.
Later on Wednesday, Clinton described the plot as “a flagrant violation of international and U.S. law and a dangerous escalation of the Iranian government’s long-standing use of political violence and sponsorship of terrorism.”
“We call upon other nations to join us in condemning this threat to international peace and security,” Clinton told journalists at a think-tank in Washington. “Iran must be held accountable for its actions.”
At a news conference, FBI Director Robert Mueller said the convoluted plot, involving monitored international calls, Mexican drug money and an attempt to blow up the ambassador in a Washington restaurant, could have been straight from a Hollywood movie, according to Reuters.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder alleged that the plot was the work of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is the guardian of Iran’s 32-year-old revolution, and the Quds force, its covert, operational arm.
“High-up officials in those (Iranian) agencies, which is an integral part of the Iranian government, were responsible for this plot,” Holder told the news conference.
“I think one has to be concerned about the chilling nature of what the Iranian government attempted to do here,” he said.
President Obama underscored that the United States believes this plot to be a flagrant violation of U.S. and international law, and reiterated the U.S. commitment to meet its responsibilities to ensure the security of diplomats.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “The idea that they would attempt to go to a Mexican drug cartel to solicit murder-for-hire to kill the Saudi ambassador, nobody could make that up, right?”
Clinton was blunt in saying the United States would use the case as leverage with other countries that have been reluctant to apply harsh sanctions or penalties against Iran. Clinton said she and President Obama called world leaders to tell them of the developments.
“This really, in the minds of many diplomats and government officials, crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for,” Clinton said. She said she and Obama want to “enlist more countries in working together against what is becoming a clearer and clearer threat” from Iran.
Later on Wednesday, Clinton described the plot as “a flagrant violation of international and U.S. law and a dangerous escalation of the Iranian government’s long-standing use of political violence and sponsorship of terrorism.”
“We call upon other nations to join us in condemning this threat to international peace and security,” Clinton told journalists at a think-tank in Washington. “Iran must be held accountable for its actions.”
At a news conference, FBI Director Robert Mueller said the convoluted plot, involving monitored international calls, Mexican drug money and an attempt to blow up the ambassador in a Washington restaurant, could have been straight from a Hollywood movie, according to Reuters.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder alleged that the plot was the work of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is the guardian of Iran’s 32-year-old revolution, and the Quds force, its covert, operational arm.
“High-up officials in those (Iranian) agencies, which is an integral part of the Iranian government, were responsible for this plot,” Holder told the news conference.
“I think one has to be concerned about the chilling nature of what the Iranian government attempted to do here,” he said.
Iranian “outrage”
Khazaee expressed “outrage” over the allegations in his letter to the U.N. council, where Iran faces mounting pressure over its nuclear program. The Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions because of Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
He said the U.S. accusations were to “divert attention from the current economic and social problems at home and the popular revolutions and protests against United States long supported dictatorial regimes abroad.”
Iran “seeks a world free from terrorism and considers the current U.S. warmongering and propaganda machine against Iran as a threat not just against itself but to the peace and stability” in the Gulf region, the Iranian envoy wrote, according to Reuters.
Iran has been a victim, the ambassador said. “A clear recent example of which is the assassination of a number of Iranian nuclear scientists in the past two years carried out by the Zionist regime and supported by the United States.”
An Iranian particle physics professor at Tehran University was killed in a bomb attack outside his home in January 2010. Another scientist was killed in Tehran on Nov. 29, while nuclear chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani survived an assassination attempt the same day.
Khazaee said: “The Iranian nation seeks a world free from terrorism and considers the current U.S. warmongering and propaganda machine against Iran as a threat not just against itself but to the peace and stability in the Persian Gulf region.”
The envoy told Ban: “As the secretary general of the United Nations you have an important responsibility in enlightening the international public opinion about the dangerous consequences of warmongering policies of the United States government on international peace and security.”
He said the U.S. accusations were to “divert attention from the current economic and social problems at home and the popular revolutions and protests against United States long supported dictatorial regimes abroad.”
Iran “seeks a world free from terrorism and considers the current U.S. warmongering and propaganda machine against Iran as a threat not just against itself but to the peace and stability” in the Gulf region, the Iranian envoy wrote, according to Reuters.
Iran has been a victim, the ambassador said. “A clear recent example of which is the assassination of a number of Iranian nuclear scientists in the past two years carried out by the Zionist regime and supported by the United States.”
An Iranian particle physics professor at Tehran University was killed in a bomb attack outside his home in January 2010. Another scientist was killed in Tehran on Nov. 29, while nuclear chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani survived an assassination attempt the same day.
Khazaee said: “The Iranian nation seeks a world free from terrorism and considers the current U.S. warmongering and propaganda machine against Iran as a threat not just against itself but to the peace and stability in the Persian Gulf region.”
The envoy told Ban: “As the secretary general of the United Nations you have an important responsibility in enlightening the international public opinion about the dangerous consequences of warmongering policies of the United States government on international peace and security.”
Joint U.S.-Saudi decision
The Saudi Embassy said in a statement that it appreciated the U.S. efforts to prevent the crime. “The attempted plot is a despicable violation of international norms, standards and conventions and is not in accord with the principles of humanity,” the statement read, according to AP.
“There were always problems with Iran and Saudi Arabia, what is new now is that America is involved... The fact that the Saudi ambassador was the target in the United States, I believe this will mean the kingdom and the United States will take a joint decision together,” said Abdullah al-Shammari, a government official in Riyadh.
“An ambassador of the level of Adel al-Jubeir, who was an adviser to the royal court, that is a great provocation for Saudi Arabia and therefore we expect that the kingdom will take steps in this matter,” Shammari said.
Suzanne Maloney, a former State Department expert on Iran who is now an analyst with the Brookings Institution think tank, expected the administration to carefully calibrate its push for new sanctions.
It will be inclined to “try to hit Iran as dramatically as possible with sanctions without fracturing the coalition and creating more opportunities for sanctions busting by countries like China or Russia,” Maloney told AFP.
Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the alleged plot marked “dangerous new territory for Iran” and “underscores the need for concerted international unity to confront Iran.”
Speaking to CNN television later, Rogers said “this is an opportunity for the administration to get the Europeans on board and send a very clear message to the Chinese and the Russians” who he said should worry about such plots.
“There were always problems with Iran and Saudi Arabia, what is new now is that America is involved... The fact that the Saudi ambassador was the target in the United States, I believe this will mean the kingdom and the United States will take a joint decision together,” said Abdullah al-Shammari, a government official in Riyadh.
“An ambassador of the level of Adel al-Jubeir, who was an adviser to the royal court, that is a great provocation for Saudi Arabia and therefore we expect that the kingdom will take steps in this matter,” Shammari said.
Suzanne Maloney, a former State Department expert on Iran who is now an analyst with the Brookings Institution think tank, expected the administration to carefully calibrate its push for new sanctions.
It will be inclined to “try to hit Iran as dramatically as possible with sanctions without fracturing the coalition and creating more opportunities for sanctions busting by countries like China or Russia,” Maloney told AFP.
Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the alleged plot marked “dangerous new territory for Iran” and “underscores the need for concerted international unity to confront Iran.”
Speaking to CNN television later, Rogers said “this is an opportunity for the administration to get the Europeans on board and send a very clear message to the Chinese and the Russians” who he said should worry about such plots.
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