THE GUARDIAN: Tehran denies it was behind plot to kill Saudi ambassador and says US is using it to divert attention from problems at home
The Saudi Arabian government has issued a menacing warning to Iranthat it will have to "pay the price" for the alleged plot to hire a Mexican drugs cartel to assassinate its ambassador in Washington.
The threat from the Saudis came as the Obama administration resisted calls from within the US, mainly from the conservative right, to retaliate against Iran with military action.
But Iran denied it was behind the alleged plot, with officials claiming Washington had fabricated the story to divide Sunni Muslims – the dominant group in Saudi – and Shias, the dominant group in Iran. Tehran's leadership claimed Barack Obama was using the story to divert attention from the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
The foreign ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador, who handles US interests in the country, to condemn what it called "baseless claims" and warn "against the repetition of such politically motivated allegations."
A Saudi prince, Turki al-Faisal, a former ambassador to Washington and a former head of the Saudi intelligence service, told a conference in London: "The burden of proof and the amount of evidence in the case is overwhelming, and clearly shows official Iranian responsibility for this. This is unacceptable. Somebody in Iran will have to pay the price." » | Ewen MacAskill and Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Wednesday, October 12, 2011
