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IRAN BEHIND LARGE TERROR PLOT IN U.S
 Authorities foiled a plot that was directed by factions of the Iranian government to bomb the Israeli and Saudi Arabian embassies in Washington and a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the USA Adel al-Jubeir, Attorney General Eric Holder said, on Tuesday 10/11/2011, at a special press conference. Eric Holder also said in a news conference that the terror plot was a $1.5 million dollar "murder-for-hire" plan.
The criminal complaint, which unsealed in federal court in New York City Tuesday, identified the two alleged plotters as Manssor Arbabsiar (pic) and Gholam Shakuri, both with ties to Iran, Reuters reported Manssor Arbabsiar has been arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, on 09/29/2011, while Gholam Shakuri an Iran-based member of Iran's Al Quds Force remains at large. Al Quds Force. within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, is the executive apparatus of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to export the Islamic revolution from Iran to the Muslim, primarily Shiite, world.
The complaint alleges that Iran helped conceived, sponsored and directed from Iran. Holder called the alleged plot was a "flagrant violation of US and international law" and the U.S. will hold Iran accountable. The suspects, Manssor Arbabsiar, allegedly discussed bombing a restaurant in the United States that the Ambassador frequented, according to the complaint.
FBI Director Robert Mueller says many lives could have been lost in the plot to kill the ambassador with bombs in the U.S.
Manssor Arbabsiar, 56, a naturalized U.S. citizen who holds an Iranian passport, allegedly expressed disregard for the collateral damage that the attacks in Washington would have caused.
The case, called Operation ‘Red Coalition’, began in May 2011 when an Iranian-American from Corpus Christi, Texas, approached a U.S. informant seeking the help of a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, according to counter-terrorism officials. The Iranian-American thought he was dealing with a member of a Mexican drug organization, according to documents. Manssor Arbabsiar allegedly transferred $100,000 to the confidential informant as a down payment for the attack.
The US Treasury Department added Gholam Shakuri, Manssor Arbabsiar, and an Iranian Al Quds Force officer known as Mustafa Abdullahi to the list of designated global terrorists. Mustafa Abdullahi Abdullahi was not named in the indictment that identified Shakuri and Arbabsiar.
US Treasury Department designation listed senior Al Quds Force leaders Qasem Soleimani, Abdul Reza Shahlai, and Hamed Abdullahi as being involved in the plot. Soleimani is the overall leader of Qods Force, and Abdullahi and Shahlai are senior commanders. Abdul Reza Shahlai has been previously designated as a terrorist by the US for his role in killing US soldiers in Karbala, Iraq, in January 2007.
Manssor Arbabsiar was arrested in Nueces County, Texas, four times between 1993 and 2001, according to the county's sheriff's department. Three arrests were on traffic offenses; a fourth was for theft by check, a charge that was dismissed. Manssor Arbabsiar was officially indicted on Friday 10/21/2011.
No doubt the plot builds the case of USA to mount pressure, even military actions, against Iran (see also - U.S 2011 Policy).
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11/10/2011 20:17:56
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