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Arbabsiar Pleads Guilty In New York To Conspiring With Iranian Military Officials To Assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador To The United States
Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty in federal court in New York on Wednesday in a scheme by members of the Iranian government to recruit a Mexican drug cartel to kill Saudi Arabias ambassador to the United States by bombing a Washington, D.C., restaurant.
Arbabsiar, 58, a former used car salesman from Corpus Christi, Texas, admitted arranging a $1.5 million payment from Iran to kill Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir by bombing the restaurant, describing as no big deal the fact that others, including U.S. senators, could die in the attack.
The supposed bombing site was the Monocle Restaurant, the closest to Capitol Hill and a frequent dining spot for lawmakers.
Arbabsiar, who holds Iranian and U.S. passports, and Gholam Shakuri, a Tehran-based senior official in Irans Quds force, had been charged by federal authorities with conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, and conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism.
Mr. Shakuri remains at large and is thought to be in Iran.
Enlarge Photo
**FILE** Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir (The Washington Times) more >
Arbabsiar pleaded guilty to charges of traveling in foreign commerce and using interstate and foreign commerce facilities in planning commission of murder for hire; conspiring to do so; and conspiring to commit an offense against the United States an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries.
In connection with his guilty plea, Arbabsiar admitted that in 2011 he conspired with officials in the Iranian military based in Iran to cause the assassination of the Saudi ambassador while in the United States. He also acknowledged that at the direction of his co-conspirators, he traveled to Mexico on several occasions during 2011 to arrange the assassination.
Facing a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, he is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on Jan. 23 before U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan. Arbabsiar was arrested on Sept. 29, 2011, at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The Treasury Department designated as terrorists Arbabsiar, Mr. Shakuri and three other Iranians thought involved in the plot Quds force commander Qasem Soleimani and Quds force officials Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlai. The Quds force is part of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and has been designated by U.S. officials as a terrorist organization because of its role in aiding attacks on allied forces in Iraq.
According to an indictment in the case, the conspiracy began last spring when Arbabsiar was approached in Tehran by his cousin, a high-ranking official in the Quds force, and asked to recruit a Mexican drug-trafficking organization to help kidnap Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador in Washington.
Federal prosecutors said Arbabsiar was in touch with someone he thought to be a representative of a Mexican drug cartel but in fact was a drug trafficker and a paid informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), referred to in the indictment only as CS-1. Prosecutors said that in a recorded meeting and telephone conversations, Arbabsiar agreed to facilitate a $1.5 million payment from Iran to kill Mr. al-Jubeir by bombing the restaurant.
The indictment said a down payment of $100,000 was transferred to a special undercover FBI account. Warned by the trafficker that as many as 100 people, including U.S. senators, would be in the restaurant and might be killed, Arbabsiar replied it was no big deal.
The dangerous connection between drug trafficking and terrorism cannot be overstated, and this case is yet another example of DEAs unique role in identifying potentially deadly networks that wish to harm innocent Americans and our allies worldwide, said DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart.
Using DEAs elaborate and sophisticated investigative expertise to infiltrate violent drug and terror organizations globally, we successfully identified this threat and worked closely with the FBI to prevent a potentially deadly outcome, she said.
Since Arbabsiars arrest in late September, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Arbabsiar has confessed to his participation in the plot and provided other information about elements of the Iranian governments role in it.
Man guilty in plot to kill Saudi ambassador - Washington Times
Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty in federal court in New York on Wednesday in a scheme by members of the Iranian government to recruit a Mexican drug cartel to kill Saudi Arabias ambassador to the United States by bombing a Washington, D.C., restaurant.
Arbabsiar, 58, a former used car salesman from Corpus Christi, Texas, admitted arranging a $1.5 million payment from Iran to kill Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir by bombing the restaurant, describing as no big deal the fact that others, including U.S. senators, could die in the attack.
The supposed bombing site was the Monocle Restaurant, the closest to Capitol Hill and a frequent dining spot for lawmakers.
Arbabsiar, who holds Iranian and U.S. passports, and Gholam Shakuri, a Tehran-based senior official in Irans Quds force, had been charged by federal authorities with conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, and conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism.
Mr. Shakuri remains at large and is thought to be in Iran.
Enlarge Photo
**FILE** Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir (The Washington Times) more >
Arbabsiar pleaded guilty to charges of traveling in foreign commerce and using interstate and foreign commerce facilities in planning commission of murder for hire; conspiring to do so; and conspiring to commit an offense against the United States an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries.
In connection with his guilty plea, Arbabsiar admitted that in 2011 he conspired with officials in the Iranian military based in Iran to cause the assassination of the Saudi ambassador while in the United States. He also acknowledged that at the direction of his co-conspirators, he traveled to Mexico on several occasions during 2011 to arrange the assassination.
Facing a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, he is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on Jan. 23 before U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan. Arbabsiar was arrested on Sept. 29, 2011, at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The Treasury Department designated as terrorists Arbabsiar, Mr. Shakuri and three other Iranians thought involved in the plot Quds force commander Qasem Soleimani and Quds force officials Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlai. The Quds force is part of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and has been designated by U.S. officials as a terrorist organization because of its role in aiding attacks on allied forces in Iraq.
According to an indictment in the case, the conspiracy began last spring when Arbabsiar was approached in Tehran by his cousin, a high-ranking official in the Quds force, and asked to recruit a Mexican drug-trafficking organization to help kidnap Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador in Washington.
Federal prosecutors said Arbabsiar was in touch with someone he thought to be a representative of a Mexican drug cartel but in fact was a drug trafficker and a paid informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), referred to in the indictment only as CS-1. Prosecutors said that in a recorded meeting and telephone conversations, Arbabsiar agreed to facilitate a $1.5 million payment from Iran to kill Mr. al-Jubeir by bombing the restaurant.
The indictment said a down payment of $100,000 was transferred to a special undercover FBI account. Warned by the trafficker that as many as 100 people, including U.S. senators, would be in the restaurant and might be killed, Arbabsiar replied it was no big deal.
The dangerous connection between drug trafficking and terrorism cannot be overstated, and this case is yet another example of DEAs unique role in identifying potentially deadly networks that wish to harm innocent Americans and our allies worldwide, said DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart.
Using DEAs elaborate and sophisticated investigative expertise to infiltrate violent drug and terror organizations globally, we successfully identified this threat and worked closely with the FBI to prevent a potentially deadly outcome, she said.
Since Arbabsiars arrest in late September, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Arbabsiar has confessed to his participation in the plot and provided other information about elements of the Iranian governments role in it.
Man guilty in plot to kill Saudi ambassador - Washington Times
