US accuses Iran of plotting to kill Saudi ambassador in Washington

[chill_wind]

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 bomb 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 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, the department said.

more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/186765-holder-announces-two-charged-in-plot-to-assissinate-us-ambassador-to-saudi-arabia

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Coverage in mexico is interesting.

And it s rather low key as well.

[chill_wind]

2. Can you share a bit more when you get a chance, nadin? I haven't

thought to look or even get that far.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Pretty low key

Mostly they have covered the us angle. Implied the role of the equivalent of ins sent one of Tge two arrestees back to the states fr "not fulfilling entry requirements." he was arrested on arrival to NYC.

They covered the zeta angle...but really they aven't gone deeply. You can read revealing methods. They have emphasized that this covered a plot against the embassies of Israel and saudi Arabia. Incidentally,,, the enemy of my enemy, in my view this could lead to an interesting alliance.

[chill_wind]

4. Thanks!

:hi:

[fascisthunter]

5. what about the Saudis who crashed planes into the two towers?

... funny how all but one was Saudi... I suppose no other Saudis were behind it.

[sfpcjock]

6. Did Goldman Government get tired of Occupy Wall Street being the lead on the news?

Hence the false flag operation about the Iran targeting the Saudi Ambassador? CNN said they've known about this story since March of this year.

[chill_wind]

7. Strange event. Jim Lobe commentary here:

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105425

[chill_wind]

8. WAPO (fwiw)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/suspect-in-alleged-iranian-terrorism-plot-had-key-connections/2011/10/11/gIQAV6rfdL_story.html

@JasminRamsey
Arbabsiar aka "Jack" operated a used auto sales shop, may have been "recruited" for the operation: washingtonpost.com/world/national… #Iran
36 minutes ago

[Festivito]

9. Interesting BBC story progression tonight. And, is a PR firm trying to sell Saudis?

BBC had a guy on tonight who said that the hit looked nothing like a hit done by Iran. He went on to describe the kind of hit they would generally employ. Hmmm.
The questioning continued to imply the investigation as a done-deal as though the detailed answer had taken the moderator by surprise.

Then, for a couple of hours, the story came with the Iran-hit-inconsistency caveat.

Then, about four hours, a woman gave what would be another interview. No mention of the detail given earlier either to correct it as a mistake or to restate it as from another expert.

Move along folks, nothing to see here now.

Going further with the theme of this being a setup: my first thought is that this would be another, the second I recollect, PR attempt to make Saudis appear victims and that could be in order to garner sympathy as their once hidden role in 9/11 unravels into revelations.

[chill_wind]

11. Sounds like Iran specialists are having a real hard time

making sense of this.


Hillary: "Nobody could make that up, right?"

While Iran specialists said they were dumbfounded by the plot and what the regime could hope to gain from such an action, senior officials in the administration of President Barack Obama told reporters they planned to impose new sanctions on the regime and intensify efforts to isolate and punish it diplomatically.

"This really, in the minds of many diplomats and government officials, crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Associated Press.

She added that the plot "creates a potential for international reaction that will further isolate Iran, that will raise questions about what they're up to, not only in the United States and Mexico."

"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?" she was quoted as telling AP.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105425

7) What could Iran gain from this plot?

Certainly tensions have increased between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the past year, but Iran has been battling the Saudis in other ways, by exerting influence over Iraq’s government, for example. As Jim Lobe points out, if this plot is really Iran’s doing, it will only lead to more strangling sanctions and bring the threat of war closer. Unless you are among the misguided group of people who think that Iran’s current government is suicidal, taking part in an event like this is simply not in Iran’s interest.

8) What can Iran lose from this plot?

As Lobe and Josh Rogin have pointed out, anti-Iran, pro-Israel advocates and hawks are having a field day with this story. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) immediately called for the U.S. to collapse Iran’s central bank and unsigned opinion pieces are urging further action (what comes after sanctions?) against the Iranian “threat.” This story was also broken on the same day that further OFAC sanctions were announced, with more on the way.

Some Preliminary Questions about the Alleged Iranian Terror Plot

October 11th, 2011
Jasmin Ramsey

http://www.lobelog.com/some-preliminary-questions-about-the-alleged-iranian-terror-plot/

[Festivito]

12. Interesting that many DUers smell a rat and that this topic gets broken into many posts. LINK:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=5023174&mesg_id=5023174

[chill_wind]

14. Thanks Festivito

Our sense of smell and mistrust comes from long experience with the neocons. We should have a contest to try to figure out who wrote that unsigned opinion piece in the WSJ.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203633104576625260808261024.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[chill_wind]

10. Biden on TV - "nothing has been taken off the table". Panetta on again about "doomsday" cuts

“It is an outrageous act,” said Biden Wednesday on ABC’s Good Morning America. “The Iranians are going to have to be held accountable. And when you see the case presented you will find there is compelling evidence for the assertion being made.”

The U.S. is considering additional sanctions, but “nothing has been taken off the table,” he added.

Biden: Iran bomb plot an 'outrageous act'
Meghashyam Mali 10/12/11
http://thehill.com/video/administration/186951-biden-iran-plot-an-outrageous-act

---------------

Panetta. See? See? You can't cut us!

For a second day in a row, Panetta took a hard line against deeper military budget cuts than the $350 billion called for under the August debt deal. He called it "nuts" if $600 billion more in cuts were to be triggered if the congressional supercommittee fails to reach a deal on at least $1.2 trillion in cuts.

That second round of cuts would be a “doomsday mechanism” that would hinder national security, Panetta said.

Panetta: Additional military cuts 'nuts'
By John T. Bennett - 10/12/11 09
http://thehill.com/news-by-subject/defense-homeland-security/186981-panetta-additional-military-cuts-qnutsq

(bold mine)

[G_j]

13. mmm....

not surprised

[gratuitous]

15. So, we lob a few missiles into Iran, right?

I don't quite understand this Department of Justice dumbshow; it hasn't been required previously to justify blowing people to Kingdom Come with a few missiles launched from drones. In fact, it's been totally sufficient to make up whatever story after the fact that "justifies" raining down death from above indiscriminately. Well, it's appropriations time again, and a big splash around budget time never hurts when asking for more money.