Senior Lawmaker: Assassination Allegations Indicate US Paralysis in Confrontation against Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian legislator condemned Washington's latest accusation against Iran as an attempt to divert the US public opinion from the current crisis in the country, and said the White House allegation indicates the United States' paralysis in its confrontation against the mighty and powerful Iran.
"Promulgation of lies by the United States about capturing two Iranian nationals in the US on charges of terrorist action indicates the United States' political weakness and the desperateness and helplessness of the country's politicians," member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Kossari told FNA on Wednesday.

"This scenario has been written to divert the public opinion in the US and the other nations which have embarked on staging revolutions in the region," he added.

FBI and DEA agents alleged on Tuesday that they have disrupted a plot to commit a "significant terrorist act in the United States" tied to Iran, federal officials told ABC News.

The US officials claimed that the plot included the assassination of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir, with a bomb and subsequent bomb attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, D.C. Bombings of the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were also discussed, according to the US officials.

US Attorney General Eric Holder claimed in an announcement today that the plan was "conceived, sponsored and was directed from Iran" by a faction of the government and called it a "flagrant" violation of US and international law.


Shortly after Holder publicly announced the foiled plot, the US Treasury announced it was initiating sanctions against five people allegedly connected to the plot.

An Iranian representative in Washington, D.C., told ABC News the US government's story was "fake".

The stunning allegations come against a backdrop of longstanding tensions between Iran and the United States and Saudi Arabia. In the last year, Saudi Arabia has attempted to build an anti-Iran alliance to push back against Iran's growing influence in the region. Saudi Arabia has started experiencing a fierce Shiite uprising since late last week and has indirectly blamed Iran for unrests in the al-Qatif region in its eastern regions. The Saudi Shiite leaders and community have dismissed the Saudi officials' allegations, saying that they have been incited only by Riyadh's oppressions and discriminatory behaviors.

Later Tuesday night, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast dismissed the US allegations as a prefabricated scenario which is totally unfounded.

"Such worn-out approaches which are based on the old hostile policies of the American-Zionist axis are a humorous act and part of the special scenarios staged and pursued by the enemies of Islam and the region to sow discord (among Muslims)," Mehman-Parast said.

The spokesman, who condemned all terrorist attacks, further said, "Those who have worked out such prefabricated scenarios are after no goal but fomenting strife (among Muslims) and helping the Zionist regime to come out of isolation."

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is a ruling system based on Islamic values and ethics and has always warned of the danger of the enemies of the region.

"Such redundant scenarios are staged by the American-Zionist axis under such conditions that the US policies both inside and outside the region have proved seriously inefficient and faced massive domestic and global protests."

To conclude his remarks, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman underlined that the relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arab are based on mutual respect and such unreal and unfounded allegations would leave no impact on the world public opinion.