U.S. officials say they frustrated an Iranian plot to use a weapon of mass destruction on American soil. The targets may have included Israel’s embassy here.
Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday outlined charges filed in New York City against two men — an Iranian American and an Iranian. The Iranian American is in custody, while the Iranian is at large.
Holder alleged that the plot involved a plan to hire members of the Mexican drug cartel to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington.
In addition to the planned assassination, the men were charged with plotting a terrorist act that would have involved a weapon of mass destruction. ABC News, citing federal officials, said potential targets included the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, D.C. and attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were also discussed.
Holder said Iran's Revolutionary Guard was involved in the plot.
"The United States is committed to holding Iran accountable," he said.
Other officials at a Department of Justice news conference suggested that the plot, if carried out, would have inflicted mass casualties.
"Many lives would have been lost," said FBI director Robert Mullen.
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