White House seeks to isolate Iran over bomb plot
Source: Agencies |
October 13, 2011, Thursday
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THE Obama administration plans to use charges that Iran plotted to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States in a global campaign to isolate the Islamic republic.
US officials say the administration will lobby for the imposition of new international sanctions as well as for individual nations to expand their own penalties against Iran based on allegations that Iranian agents tried to recruit a purported member of a Mexican drug cartel to kill the Saudi envoy on American soil.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she and President Barack Obama want to "enlist more countries in working together against what is becoming a clearer and clearer threat" from Iran.
Britain's government said yesterday it was consulting with the US and others over new international sanctions.
"We would support any measures that help hold Iran accountable for its actions," said Steve Field, spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron.
"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 said shortly after US prosecutors accused two suspected Iranian agents of trying to murder Saudi envoy Adel Al-Jubeir. The plan was to carry out a bomb attack while Al-Jubeir dined at his favorite restaurant.
Obama called al-Jubeir on Tuesday to say the foiled assassination plot was a "flagrant" violation of US and international law, the White House said. The president expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and said he was committed to ensuring the security of diplomats in the US.
Ali Larijani, Iran's parliament speaker, called the claims a childish game. "These are cheap claims. By giving it a wide media coverage, it was evident that they are trying to cover up their own problems," Larijani told the parliament yesterday.
"They suffered a political stroke and learned that they had begun a childish game," he said. "We have normal relations with the Saudis. There is no reason for Iran to carry out such childish acts."
In New York, Alireza Miryousefi, head of the press office of the Iranian mission to the United Nations, sent Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a letter "to express our outrage" over the allegations. "The US allegation is, obviously, a politically-motivated move and a showcase of its long-standing animosity toward the Iranian nation," the letter said.
Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old US citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, has been charged along with Gholam Shakuri, who authorities said was a Quds Force member and is still at large in Iran. The Treasury Department listed addresses for Arbabsiar in two Texas cities - the Austin suburb of Round Rock and the Gulf city of Corpus Christi - and prosecutors say he frequently traveled to Mexico for business.
US officials say the administration will lobby for the imposition of new international sanctions as well as for individual nations to expand their own penalties against Iran based on allegations that Iranian agents tried to recruit a purported member of a Mexican drug cartel to kill the Saudi envoy on American soil.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she and President Barack Obama want to "enlist more countries in working together against what is becoming a clearer and clearer threat" from Iran.
Britain's government said yesterday it was consulting with the US and others over new international sanctions.
"We would support any measures that help hold Iran accountable for its actions," said Steve Field, spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron.
"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 said shortly after US prosecutors accused two suspected Iranian agents of trying to murder Saudi envoy Adel Al-Jubeir. The plan was to carry out a bomb attack while Al-Jubeir dined at his favorite restaurant.
Obama called al-Jubeir on Tuesday to say the foiled assassination plot was a "flagrant" violation of US and international law, the White House said. The president expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and said he was committed to ensuring the security of diplomats in the US.
Ali Larijani, Iran's parliament speaker, called the claims a childish game. "These are cheap claims. By giving it a wide media coverage, it was evident that they are trying to cover up their own problems," Larijani told the parliament yesterday.
"They suffered a political stroke and learned that they had begun a childish game," he said. "We have normal relations with the Saudis. There is no reason for Iran to carry out such childish acts."
In New York, Alireza Miryousefi, head of the press office of the Iranian mission to the United Nations, sent Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a letter "to express our outrage" over the allegations. "The US allegation is, obviously, a politically-motivated move and a showcase of its long-standing animosity toward the Iranian nation," the letter said.
Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old US citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, has been charged along with Gholam Shakuri, who authorities said was a Quds Force member and is still at large in Iran. The Treasury Department listed addresses for Arbabsiar in two Texas cities - the Austin suburb of Round Rock and the Gulf city of Corpus Christi - and prosecutors say he frequently traveled to Mexico for business.
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