Saudis want UN to weigh alleged Iran plot

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS

Saudi Arabia is asking that the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States be brought to the U.N. Security Council.

But Saudi Arabia’s U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi did not say what action, if any, his government wants the U.N.’s most powerful body to take.

The council already has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program. Russia and China, which have strong economic ties to the oil-rich Mideast nation, reacted cautiously to the new allegations.

In a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon obtained Monday by The Associated Press, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Mouallimi called the plot not only “a heinous crime” but “a gross violation” of international treaties including those to protect diplomats.

“According to United States authorities, overwhelming evidence leads to the conclusion that this plot was planned, financed, and directed by elements working for or belonging to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.

Two men, including a member of the Iranian special foreign-actions unit known as the Quds Force, have been charged in a U.S. federal court in New York with conspiring to kill Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir.

The alleged plot has raised calls in Washington for new sanctions and increased tensions between the Mideast’s Sunni power, Saudi Arabia, and the Shiite powerhouse, Iran.

Al-Mouallimi said the Saudi government expressed “deep concern and outrage at this plot” and asked the secretary-general “to bring this matter to the attention of the Security Council.”