The "plot" and excuse my quote marks involved Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old Iranian native and naturalized U.S. citizen who was working as a used car salesman in Texas, and Gholam Shakuri, an Iranian member of the Quds Force.
They were charged in a Manhattan federal court with conspiracy to use plastic explosives to murder Saudi Ambassador Adel al- Jubeir.
But does this "plot" really stack up?
As Alexander says
Why would Iran want to kill the Saudi envoy - not the colourful and influential Prince Bandar who used to hold the job, but the mild-mannered functionary, Adel al-Jubeir (above)? To kill any ambassador - particularly a Saudi ambassador - is to invite lethal retaliation, even war. Iran doesn't want war with the US.
There has been animosity between the Sunni Muslim monarchy in Riyadh and the Shiite Muslim theocracy in Tehran for many years but it beggers belief that Iran would want to rachet up the anti now
As Cockburn continues to say
If even one US senator died in a terrorist bombing in Washington, if anything larger than a firecracker detonated outside the Israeli embassy, US bombers would be raining high explosive on Iranian targets within 24 hours. Why would Iran want to invite such a response?
No comments:
Post a Comment