Iran Terror Plot to Assassinate Saudi Ambassador in US Foiled by FBI
A major terror plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States has been foiled by the FBI and DEA.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday a foiled plot by "factions of the Iranian government" to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States.
"The United States is committed to hold Iran accountable for its actions," Holder told reporters during an afternoon news conference.
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Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir has been serving as ambassador since 2007, and was targeted in a bomb attack planned by Iranian terrorists.
The plot also involved bomb attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, DC.
Two men, identified as Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri have been charged with planning to assassinate the ambassador and to attack the embassies, according to court documents filed by the Justice Department.
Both men are originally from Iran.
Sources say that one of the suspects reportedly contacted an undercover DEA informant and asked for assistance from the Zetas drug cartel in Mexico to assassinate the ambassador.
According to ABC News, Arbabsiar made the contact, claiming he was being "directed by high-ranking members of the Iranian government," including a cousin who was "a member of the Iranian army but did not wear a uniform."
Meetings and phone calls between the informant and Arbabsiar were recorded by the DEA and FBI, according to ABC news, which ultimately led to the foiling of the plot.
The DEA informant was given $50,000 as down-payment of a $1.5 million assassination fee by Arbabsiar.
They have now been charged with conspiracy to kill a foreign official and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, a bomb, among other counts.
