Iranian terror attack foiled. Axis of Evil: 0 USA: 1

[bhsup]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15266992

The US says it has broken up a major terror plot in which agents linked to Iran sought to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

Two men originally from Iran - one a naturalised US citizen - have been charged with counts of conspiracy, Attorney General Eric Holder said.

The plot was "conceived" in Iran by the Quds force, part of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, he added.

The state department has listed Iran as a "state sponsor" of terror since 1984.

The two men allegedly linked to the plot were named as Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old naturalised US citizen with dual Iranian and US passports, and Gholam Shakuri, based in Iran and said to be a member of Iran's Quds Force.

Mr Arbabsiar was arrested in September, Mr Holder said, but Mr Shakuri remains in Iran.

They have been charged with a series of conspiracy charges over alleged plans to kill the Saudi ambassador.

Mr Arbabsiar, who is due to appear in court in New York on Tuesday, faces a potential life prison sentence if convicted on all charges, the Department of Justice said.

So yeah, what do all you axis of evil naysayers have to say now? This is BBC, not Fox News, btw.

 

[Kraznaya]

i approve of killing saudis

Moderator Action: Inappropriate - Grisu
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Formaldehyde]

Two men, one who was apparently an American citizen, were ostensibly trying to kill the Saudi ambassador? So it means the Iranian government is engaging in state-sponsored terrorism? Is that the premise for the OP?

 

[bhsup]

Well, it's the premise of the BBC news article which I qouted, so...yeah.

The plot was "conceived" in Iran by the Quds force, part of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, he added.

 

[Bamspeedy]

I'm sure our resident Iranian supporter is now going to tell us this is all bogus charges to distract us from the wall street occupation or something, or that these men were really conspiring to sell this ambassador Avon products.

 

[.Shane.]

Just curious, but what is the motivation to kill the ambassador rather than, say, someone more significant in the Saudi govt?

 

[bhsup]

.Shane., I wasn't aware that Iran and Saudi Arabia were at war. And also, aren't ambassadors supposed to be off limits in any case?

 

[Leoreth]

Oh, and here I thought Axis of Evil was a ridiculous concept that was abandoned by the public years ago.

 

[mitsho]

So yeah, what do all you axis of evil naysayers have to say now? This is BBC, not Fox News, btw.

an "axis" needs at least two points. All I see is a single state acting in covered operations, like the CIA of the United States does (see every single Hollywood Thriller). For it to be an axis, you would need to have proof that other states act in the same way with the same intentions.

"evil" is a concept of a simple worldview. It also is highly subjective. In the eyes of the Iranians, this wasn't evil.

So, no, I don't see how this single act proofs a "axis of evil".

 

[Kozmos]

As opposed to the Pentagon of evil?

 

[Truronian]

Is there any info about why they wanted to kill the Saudi ambassador? What makes this a terror attack rather than a good old fashioned assassination?

 

[timtofly]

Terror is only applied to something that happens on US soil?

 

[amadeus]

The Iranian government is trying to get revenge on those who aided the 9/11 hijackers, I guess.

 

[JtheJackal]

Is there any info about why they wanted to kill the Saudi ambassador? What makes this a terror attack rather than a good old fashioned assassination?

From what I read they were going to use a bombing as a way to assassinate.

 

[Ajidica]

.Shane., I wasn't aware that Iran and Saudi Arabia were at war.

They really, really, really don't like each other, especialy as the Saudis were the primary banker for Saddam during his invasion and the Sunni/Shia split.
Plus there are still all the unresolved border issues about the Persian Gulf/Arabian Gulf. Saudi maps call it the Arabian Gulf.
Additionaly,

The plot was "conceived" in Iran by the Quds force, part of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, he added.

1. The Revolutionary Guards is a law unto itself. Just because the Revolutionary Guards did something doesn't mean that the Iranian government approved it, or even had any indication it was going on.
2. Until we have more information on what concieved actualy means in this case, it does seem to me like a rather chancy chain of assumptions linking the Iranian government, either the Supreme Leader or the President, to these actions.

 

[Patroklos]

The RG is the Iranian version of the SS. They are administered directly by the Iranian state religious representatives through the normal state apparatus. They are the government, or part of it.

Whether they knew or not, and there is no reason to doubt it, they are responsible for what they do.

 

[kronic]

Just why am I not convinced?

 

[nonconformist]

.Shane., I wasn't aware that Iran and Saudi Arabia were at war. And also, aren't ambassadors supposed to be off limits in any case?

Eh, since the Sauds allowed the US onto holy soil....


isn't the ambassador Prince Bandar?

 

[.Shane.]

.Shane., I wasn't aware that Iran and Saudi Arabia were at war. And also, aren't ambassadors supposed to be off limits in any case?

Unfortunately, there is no clear definition of what war is anymore. So, is an ambassador of an enemy state who is in the US any less of a target than, say, a terrorist suspect in a country (Yemen) we are not at war with?

A lot of things should be off-limits, but that also doesn't stop us.

 

[aelf]

The RG is the Iranian version of the SS. They are administered directly by the Iranian state religious representatives through the normal state apparatus. They are the government, or part of it.

Whether they knew or not, and there is no reason to doubt it, they are responsible for what they do.

Are you aware that in Iran, there are radicals and conservatives, who frequently clash and compete with each other for power? The Revolutionary Guards are radicals, while the Guardian Council and the Ayatollahs are conservative. Ahmadinejad is from the former, and basically there is a lot of politicking going on in the Iranian regime, more than lends credence to the idea that everyone is part of some kind of monolithic fundamentalist bloc.