US will hold Iran accountable in plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador

[subdjoe]

breaking news now:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2-arrested-in-alleged-plot-to-kill-us-ambassador-to-saudi-arabia/2011/10/11/gIQAykavcL_story.html

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday accused agents of the Iranian government of being involved in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, with help from a purported member of a Mexican drug cartel.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. would hold Iran accountable.

Two people, including a member of Iran’s special operations unit known as the Quds Force, were charged in New York federal court. Holder said the bomb plot was a flagrant violation of U.S. and international law.

“We will not let other countries use our soil as their battleground,” Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said at a press conference in Washington with Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, was charged along with Gholam Shakuri, whom authorities said was a Quds Force member.

FBI Director Robert Mueller says many lives could have been lost in the plot to kill the ambassador with bombs in the U.S.

Holder said the U.S. government would be taking unspecified action against the Iranian government as early as Tuesday afternoon. Asked whether the plot was blessed by the top echelons of the Iranian government, Holder said the Justice Department was not making that accusation.

Arbabsiar unknowingly hired an informant from the Drug Enforcement Administration to carry out the plot, prosecutors said. Posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel, the informant met with Arbabsiar several times in Mexico, authorities said. The price tag was $1.5 million and Arabsiar made a $100,000 down payment.

Bharara said no explosives were actually placed, and no one was in any danger.

Shakuri remains at large. Arbabsiar was arrested Sept. 29 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday. Prosecutors said he faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said Arbabsiar has confessed to his participation in the murder plot.

President Barack Obama was first briefed on the plot in June, said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

“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,” Vietor said.

See also the Beeb:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15266992

[BUGEYE]

I'm glad they were caught.
however, it seems ironic to hear Holder talking about U.S law, like he obeyes it or something.

[subdjoe]

I'm glad they were caught.
however, it seems ironic to hear Holder talking about U.S law, like he obeyes it or something.

Yep.  And notice the connection to his pals, Mexican drug lords.  And the cynical part of me really questions the timing of it.  Really smells like a diversion to me. But, it also seems to have been a credible threat.

[Graybeard]

“We will not let other countries use our soil as their battleground,” Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said at a press conference in Washington with Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

And yet the folks running this country think it's OK for us to use foreign soil as our battleground.

[BUGEYE]

I'm glad they were caught.
however, it seems ironic to hear Holder talking about U.S law, like he obeyes it or something.

Yep.  And notice the connection to his pals, Mexican drug lords.  And the cynical part of me really questions the timing of it.  Really smells like a diversion to me. But, it also seems to have been a credible threat.

you're right I think, diversion.

[briarpatch]

Wag the dog?

[Cabin4]

I wonder if this is some trumped up charge by Holder in order to take the heat off on him that Fast & Furiuous is causing.

[briarpatch]

There aint no doubt Cab4. No doubt.

[OldSchoolRanger]

I wonder if this is some trumped up charge by Holder in order to take the heat off on him that Fast & Furiuous is causing.

C4 - Your 100% correct, at the news conference called regarding this plot, Holder refused to comment when asked about the Fast & Furious gun tracking operation. 

Its what they do...Not just Holder...this scam is actually old news....Iran and Saudi get along Ok...there is never any percentage  in killing an Ambassador...another will take his place.....this is just along line of Fables from the neocon-neolib running the country.
 
I like the one they came out with a couple of weeks ago where they were supplying a moslem drummer in a rock band  jet fighters model airplanes and explsoives to fly into the White House or something...ridiculous.
 
..TM7

Nice try TM, but it doesn't hold water.

[Gary G]

It was another "false flag" incident plotted by our own government to keep the sheeple in line:
http://lewrockwell.com/raimondo/raimondo140.html

[Cabin4]

It was another "false flag" incident plotted by our own government to keep the sheeple in line:
http://lewrockwell.com/raimondo/raimondo140.html

I can believe this is the case. Holder is a scam artist. And BTW: Can you say "Randy Weaver" or Waco.......

[Cabin4]

It was another "false flag" incident plotted by our own government to keep the sheeple in line:
http://lewrockwell.com/raimondo/raimondo140.html

I beleive it in this case. Holder is a scam artist and criminal.
BTW: Can you say Randy Weaver?