On October 11 in New York, the Justice Department charged Manssor Arbabsiar, an Iranian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, and Gholam Shakuri with an array of charges related to a plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir, by bombing a public venue in Washington, D.C. The plotters stated that they were unconcerned if innocent civilians died in the attack. This threat was uncovered when the plotters contacted an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in Mexico who claimed he could hire a transnational criminal cartel to undertake the attack.
This represents at least the 42nd foiled terrorist plot aimed at the U.S. since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington. It also highlights the lack of attention the Obama Administration has paid to the threat of state-sponsored terrorism.
A Harbinger of Things to Come?
Advertisement
The unique distinguishing feature of this plot is that the indictment links the conspiracy to the Qods Force, a special unit of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps, which falls under the supervision of the Iranian government in Tehran. According to the State Department's 2010 report on terrorism:
Designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984, Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2010. Iran's financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy.
In 2010, Iran remained the principal supporter of groups implacably opposed to the Middle East Peace Process. The Qods Force, the external operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is the regime's primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad. Iran provided weapons, training, and funding to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, including the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC).
This is the first publicly known post-9/11 Islamist-inspired terror plot aimed at the United States specifically linked to state-sponsored terrorism.
Wake-Up Call for the White House
The Administration has not given sufficient attention to the threat of state-sponsored terrorism. On June 28, the White House released its "new" National Strategy for Counterterrorism. The 19-page document makes exactly one reference to Iran. The subject of state-sponsored terrorism is virtually ignored.
Advertisement
On August 24, The Heritage Foundation Counterterrorism Task Force published "A Counterterrorism Strategy for the Next Wave."[1] The Heritage report criticized the Administration for neglecting to address state-sponsored terrorism:
The President's strategy pays insufficient attention to state-sponsored terrorism, which will increasingly be a major force to be reckoned with. Iran is one of the most prominent and aggressive state sponsors of terror and its protégés-both Hamas and Hezbollah-represent potentially grave threats. In addition, transnational criminal cartels in Mexico are increasingly taking on the character of terrorist networks.
The report concluded that it was past time for the U.S. to take proactive measures to deal with these threats. In particular regarding Iran, the report concluded:
Discuss in our Forums
See what other readers are saying about this article!
Click here to read & post comments.
7 posts so far.