Iran asks Interpol to prosecute two U.S. officials

TEHRAN, Dec. 13 (MNA) -- Iran has asked Interpol to prosecute two U.S. officials for asking U.S. congressmen to approve a plot to assassinate the leaders of Iran’s Qods Force. In a letter to Interpol, Iranian National Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has called for the prosecution of the U.S. officials. Iran made the move in response to the remarks of two military analysts, who spoke as expert witnesses at a meeting of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee on October 26. According to the online magazine Firstpost, at a session of the committee, Jack Keane, a retired four-star general who helped plan the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, called for the assassination of the leaders of Iran’s Qods Force in retaliation for their alleged role in a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, a claim vehemently denied by Iranian officials. “Why don’t we kill them? We kill other people who are running terrorist organizations against the United States,” he said. The other witness, Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA officer who is now a senior fellow at the neoconservative think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the committee, “I don’t think that you are going to really intimidate these people, get their attention, unless you shoot somebody.” He also argued that an attempt should be made to capture or kill the commander of the Qods Force, Qasem Suleimani. Following the provocative remarks by Keane and Gerecht, in a letter dated November 22, three U.S. officials said that the U.S. should undermine Iranian officials and damage the country’s infrastructure through increasing covert operations. The letter was signed by Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Peter King, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management Michael McCaul, and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence Patrick Meehan. U.S. intelligence officials have also confirmed to the Blotter on ABCNews.com that the CIA was given a presidential approval to launch its covert ‘black’ operations inside Iran in 2007, and about $400 million was allocated to deal a blow to the Iranian government. Afterwards, Washington began the covert operations, including the assassination of several Iranian scientists. Interpol has announced that it will refer Iran’s request to its office in Washington.