2011 alleged Iran assassination plot
Part of FBI) | |
Type | Terrorism |
---|---|
Cause | Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict |
Suspects | Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri (at large) |
Convicted | 30 May 2013 |
Charges | To participate in a plot allegedly directed by elements of the Iranian government to murder the Saudi Ambassador to the United States with explosives |
Verdict | Guilty |
Sentence | 25 years imprisonment (Manssor Arbabsiar) |
On 11 October 2011, United States officials alleged there was a plot tied to the
It is debated whether the Iranian government condoned or facilitated the plot; some experts suggested that the planners may be rogue elements within the Iranian secret service.[11]
Assassination plot
Charges announced
On 11 October 2011, the U.S. Attorney General and the Director of the FBI announced two individuals have been charged in federal court for their participation in a plot allegedly directed by elements of the Iranian government to murder the Saudi Ambassador to the United States with explosives while the Ambassador was in the United States.[12][13] "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," said Attorney General Eric Holder.[13] "Though it reads like the pages of a Hollywood script, the impact would have been very real and many lives would have been lost," FBI Director Robert Mueller said.[12] The criminal complaint charged Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen holding both Iranian and U.S. passports, and Gholam Shakuri, a commander in Iran's Quds Force, the special-operations unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.[13][14]
The U.S. Government alleged that the Quds Force "conducts sensitive covert operations abroad, including terrorist attacks, assassinations and kidnappings, and is believed to sponsor attacks against Coalition Forces in Iraq."
Plot
The details of the plot were established in later court proceedings. According to these events, Arbabsiar met with Shakuri from the spring of 2011 to October 2011 to plot the murder of the Saudi Ambassador, and met with a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) source in Mexico who posed as an associate of an international drug trafficking cartel. According to the complaint, Arbabsiar arranged to hire the source to murder the Ambassador using explosives, and Shakuri and other Iran-based co-conspirators were aware of and approved the plan.[13] With Shakuri's approval, Arbabsiar caused $100,000 to be wired into a bank account in the United States as a down payment for the killing. In June and July 2011, the complaint stated, Arbabsiar returned to Mexico and held additional meetings with the DEA source, where Arbabsiar explained that his associates in Iran had discussed a number of further missions they wanted the source and his associates to perform, including the murder of the Ambassador.[13]
During a 14 July 2011 meeting in Mexico, the source and Arbabsiar agreed that four men would be used to orchestrate the Ambassador's killing and that the total price would be $1.5 million for the murder.[13] Arbabsiar also assured the source that $100,000 would be forthcoming from Iran as a further payment towards the assassination and discussed the manner in which that payment would be made. During the meeting, Arbabsiar described having a cousin in Iran who was a "big general" in the military, and had requested that Arbabsiar find someone to carry out the Ambassador's assassination.[13] In a 17 July 2011 meeting in Mexico, the source told Arbabsiar that one of his workers had traveled to Washington, D.C. and had observed the Ambassador.[13] They discussed bombing a restaurant in the United States that the Ambassador frequented. The source told Arbabsiar there might be innocent civilian casualties, to which Arbabsiar replied "They want that guy done, if a hundred go with him, f**k 'em", and that such concerns were "no big deal".[13] On 1 August 2011 and 9 August 2011, with Shakuri's approval, Arbabsiar caused two overseas wire transfers totaling approximately $100,000 to be sent as a down payment for carrying out the assassination.[13]
Arrest and confession
On 20 September 2011, the source told Arbabsiar that the operation was ready and requested that Arbabsiar either pay one half of the agreed upon price of $1.5 million or that Arbabsiar personally travel to Mexico as collateral for the final payment. According to the complaint, Arbabsiar agreed to travel to Mexico, and did so on 28 September 2011.[15] He was refused entry by Mexican authorities and flown to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York where he was promptly arrested by U.S. federal agents and subsequently confessed to the plot.[13] According to the complaint, Arbabsiar told agents that he was "recruited, funded and directed by men he understood to be senior officials in Iran's Quds Force," including his cousin who he had "long understood to be a senior member of the Quds Force." Arbabsiar claimed he had met several times in Iran with Shakuri and another senior Quds Force official where they discussed blowing up a restaurant in the United States frequented by the Ambassador and that numerous bystanders could be killed.[13]
In early October 2011, according to the complaint, Arbabsiar made phone calls at the direction of law enforcement agents to Shakuri in Iran that were secretly monitored. During these phone calls, Shakuri confirmed that Arbabsiar should move forward with the plot to murder the Ambassador and that he should accomplish the task as quickly as possible, stating on 5 October 2011, "just do it quickly, it's late..."[13][16] Investigations by the FBI disclosed that money had been wired from a Quds Force bank account, and that Arbabsiar correctly identified a known Quds Force officer from a photo array shown to him in custody.[17]
Conviction
On 24 October 2011, Arbabsiar at first pleaded not guilty,[9] but later changed his plea to guilty.[10] On 30 May 2013, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.[18]
Manssor Arbabsiar, register number 65807-054, is now currently serving his sentence at
Alleged responsibility
U.S. officials said that it was "more than likely" that Iran's
Other commentators speculated that the men may have been acting as rogue elements in the Iranian government rather than the actual government itself. A senior U.S. law enforcement official who would speak only on the condition of anonymity stated, "It's so outside their normal track of activity. It's a rogue plan or they're using very different tactics. We just don't know."[17] The government of Iran vehemently denied the accusations[22] and Iran's United Nations representative called the confession "suspicious claims by an individual," and said his claims were fabricated.[23] While the U.S. Department of Justice said Shakuri was still at large, Iran claimed Shakuri belonged to an Iranian exile opposition group aiming to overthrow the Iranian Government.[24]
Skepticism
At the same time, a number of prominent Iran experts have questioned the Iranian government's link to the plot.
Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East analyst at the
Mental status
Dr. Michael B. First, editor of the
A former partner said that Arbabsiar was known for being disorganized – for losing keys, forgetting to pay his bills, and getting important details wrong. "If they wanted 007, I think they got Mr. Bean," he stated.[32][33]
Aftermath
Act of war
Several senior U.S. politicians, both
In 2019, former Defense Secretary
Sanctions
On 12 October 2011, President Obama imposed new sanctions on Iran and the
Reactions
United States
US President Barack Obama stated: "Even if at the highest levels there was not detailed operational knowledge, there has to be accountability with respect to anybody in the Iranian government engaging in this kind of activity."[45] Vice President Joe Biden said that Iran would be held accountable for the plot and described it as "an outrage that violates one of the fundamental premises upon which nations deal with one another and that is the sanctity and safety of their diplomats".[46] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the incident a "flagrant violation of international and United States law".[47]
Iran
Iranian President
Saudi Arabia
International
In France, a spokesman for the
A statement released from the office of British Prime Minister David Cameron stated: "Indications that this plot was directed by elements of the Iranian regime are shocking. We will support measures to hold Iran accountable for its actions."[50]
The Dutch minister of foreign affairs, Uri Rosenthal, has stated that he is "very, very, very, really exceptionally worried" about the alleged Iranian involvement in a plotted terrorist attack on civilians in the United States.[56]
On 18 November 2011, the United Nations General Assembly passed a Saudi-drafted resolution called "Terrorist Attacks on Internationally Protected Persons".[57] It received 106 votes in favor to 9 against with 41 abstentions. Armenia, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Iran, North Korea, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Zambia voted against the resolution while countries including China, India, Russia, Switzerland and Singapore abstained and expressed concerns regarding the resolution, saying that further investigation was required, proper evidence was needed and the plot needed to be investigated under what they called judicial standards. The Saudi delegate to the United Nations thanked the delegates on supporting the resolution, saying it shows a positive contribution to the fight against terrorism.[58]
See also
- Iran and state terrorism
- United States and state terrorism
- Iran–Saudi Arabia relations
- Iran–United States relations
- Iran–Israel proxy conflict
- Mexican Drug War
- Dawud Salahuddin – last successful Iranian assassination plot on U.S. soil
References
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Rosenthal zei 'zeer, zeer, zeer, echt uitzonderlijk verontrust' te zijn over de vermeende betrokkenheid van het bewind van Iran bij een terreurcomplot tegen doelen in de Verenigde Staten. 'Verontwaardiging is op zijn plaats'. (Rosenthal said there are "very, very, very, truly exceptional concerns" over the alleged involvement of the government of Iran in a terrorist plot against targets in the United States. "Indignation is in place".)
- ^ "Saudi-Sponsored U.N. General Assembly Resolution Condemning Terrorist Attacks on Internationally Protected Persons | the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".
- ^ "General Assembly Adopts Text Deploring Plot to Assassinate Saudi Arabian Envoy to United States; Calls on Iran to Help Bring Perpetrators to Justice | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org.