Officials said the plot called for the detonation of C-4 explosives at a
Washington restaurant frequented by Al Adel. They said Arbabsiar also
discussed Iranian directives to bomb the Israeli and Saudi embassies in
Washington.
"They want that guy [Saudi ambassador] done, if a hundred go with him
f---- em," the complaint quoted Arbabsiar as saying.
Arbabsiar was said to have worked with the second Iranian defendant,
Gholam Shakuri, in the plot against Al Jubeir. Officials said Shakuri, who
fled to Iran, was an officer in IRGC's Quds Force, responsible for
foreign operations and a liasion to Hamas, Hizbullah and other Iranian
proxies.
Federal prosecutors, in a complaint filed in U.S. district court in New
York, said Iran conceived, sponsored and directed the plot against the Saudi
envoy. They said Arbabsiar sought the help of a man who turned out to be an
informant from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The informant was said
to have posed as an associate of a Mexican drug trafficking cartel.
"The Department of Justice is announcing charges against two people who
allegedly attempted to carry out a deadly plot that was directed by factions
of the Iranian government to assassinate a foreign ambassador here in the
United States," Attorney General Eric Holder said on Oct. 11.
The federal complaint said a down payment of $100,000 was wired to the
informant in July and August. The complaint said Arbabsiar, with
Shakuri's approval, conducted the negotiations and since his arrest on Sept.
29 was cooperating with federal prosecutors.
"The disruption of this alleged plot marks a significant achievement by
our law enforcement and intelligence agencies as well as the close
cooperation of our partners in the Mexican government," Holder said.