US accuses Iran of plotting to kill Saudi ambassador in Washington

By Daniel Strauss - 10/11/11 02:25 PM ET

The U.S. government charged two men with planning to kill the Saudi ambassador to the U.S in a bombing plot sponsored by elements of the Iranian government and carried out by members of a Mexican drug cartel.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the two individuals, Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri, were charged with planning to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, Adel al-Jubeir.

“The criminal complaint unsealed today exposes a deadly plot directed by factions of the Iranian government to assassinate a foreign Ambassador on U.S. soil with explosives,” Holder said. “Through the diligent and coordinated efforts of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies, we were able to disrupt this plot before anyone was harmed."

The two were allegedly planning to kill the ambassador with explosives according to the Department of Justice.  Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested Sept. 29, 2011, at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, but Shakuri, who U.S. officials believe to be a member of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, remains at large, according to the Justice Department.

Flanked by FBI Director Robert Mueller and Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, Holder said that the two alleged plotters met in Mexico with a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confidential source who has posed as an associate of a violent international drug trafficking cartel.

The DEA informant in Mexico was to be paid $1.5 million for the assassination plot, the criminal complaint alleges.

According to the criminal complaint, Arbabsiar, Shakuri, and their Iranian co-conspirators had been plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador from the spring of 2011 up to October.

The complaint also says that Arbabsiar met with a DEA informant on May 24 in Mexico to discuss using explosives for the assassination. The source said that he was familiar with C-4 explosives. Arbabsiar reportedly said that the assassination had to happen, regardless of the number of casualties.

When the DEA source noted that other could be killed by the bomb, including U.S. senators, could be killed, Arbabsiar allegedly dismissed these concerns as “no big deal,” according to the Justice Deparment.

"They want that guy [the Ambassador] done [killed], if the hundred go with him f**k ‘em," Arbabsiar said according to the complaint.

"The investigation leading to today’s charges illustrates both the challenges and complexities of the international threat environment, and our increased ability today to bring together the intelligence and law enforcement resources necessary to better identify and disrupt those threats, regardless of their origin," said Mueller.
The White House said that President Obama had been briefed on the plot in June.

“The President was first briefed on this issue in June and directed his Administration to provide all necessary support to this investigation," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said. "The disruption of this plot is a significant achievement by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the President is enormously grateful for their exceptional work in this instance and countless others.”

Monaco said the charges are the result of months of work by counterterrorism and intelligence officials.
“The disruption of this plot is a significant milestone that stems from months of hard work by our law enforcement and intelligence professionals,” said Assistant Attorney General Monaco.  “I applaud the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s case.”

Holder said the Iranian government was involved in the plot. He said the organization is a "component" of the Iranian government and Iranian military.

"High individuals in these agencies…were responsible for the plot," Holder said.

The arm of the Iranian government allegedly involved was the Qods Force, which "conducts sensitive covert operations abroad, including terrorist attacks, assassinations and kidnappings, and is believed to sponsor attacks against Coalition Forces in Iraq."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) praised the counterterrorism community for the disrupted plot.

"I want to thank the intelligence and law enforcement communities for their dedicated and outstanding work in thwarting this attempted attack," Gillibrand said in a statement. "Iran has shown the world once again it poses an existential threat to the world community."

THE HILL