Obama: Iran Terror Plot a 'Dangerous Escalation'
Days after the U.S. made an announcement about a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States and attack Israeli and Saudi embassies in Washington D.C., President Obama has come out to respond to looming question of how the U.S. plans to respond to the Iranian-linked terror plot.
Obama argued that Iran has been ignoring accepted principles and norms of international behavior for ”too long” and questioned Iran’s ability to maintain diplomatic ties and partnerships in the region.
Of U.S. action, Obama said the U.S. plans to prosecute individuals in the indictment, apply tougher sanctions on the country, and continue to mobilize the international community to isolate Iran for their behavior.
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President Obama said of the plot that it is “not just a dangerous escalation, this is part of a pattern of dangerous and reckless behavior” on behalf of the Iranian government.
Iran has said that the plot was fabricated and is a manipulation tactic used to distract the American populace from domestic issues.
Iran’s permanent U.N. representative issued a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday saying that Iran “strongly and categorically rejects these fabricated and baseless allegations, based on the suspicious claims by an individual. Any country could accuse other countries through fabrication of such stories. However, this would set dangerous precedents in the relations among states.”
Obama argued that the terror plot was indeed real and said, “We would not be bringing forward a case unless we knew exactly how to support all the allegations that are contained in the indictment.”
Obama added that after the facts are analyzed “there will not be a dispute that this is in fact what happened.”
Following the announcement of the plot, the State Department issued a new terror alert for traveling Americans. The alert stated, “The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens of the potential of anti-U.S. actions following the disruption of a plot, linked to Iran, to commit a significant terrorist act in the United States.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the plot “crosses the line” and Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday that “nothing is off the table” with regards to the U.S. response to the plotted attack.
