US charges man in alleged assassination plot

An Iranian-American man who US officials say has links to Iran’s security forces has pleaded not guilty in federal court to plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington in a bomb attack.

Manssor Arbabsiar, 56, who was arrested on 29 September in New York, faces several charges including conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.

Another man, Gholam Shakuri, was also charged in the plot but is believed to still be in Iran. US officials said he is a member of Iran’s Quds Force, the covert operations arm of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

US prosecutors accused the two men of planning to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubeir, by planting a bomb in a Washington restaurant. The Iranian government denies any involvement. Iran specialists have raised doubts about But details such about to the seriousness of the plot, but US officials claim Arbabsiar has confessed to his role in it.