AFP: The European Union voiced “grave concern” Wednesday after the United States said it had foiled an Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador, warning it could have serious international implications.
BRUSSELS, October 12, 2011 (AFP) – The European Union voiced “grave concern” Wednesday after the United States said it had foiled an Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador, warning it could have serious international implications.
“Should the facts be confirmed, this would constitute a major breach of international law with serious international implications,” said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton.
“We call on the government of Iran to fully cooperate with the US justice system,” she told a news briefing.
The EU is following developments “very closely” and officials are in touch with their US counterparts, Kocijancic said.
“We have taken note with grave concern the information that was provided by the US Justice Department regarding this alleged participation of two Iranian individuals in a plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to the US, and alleged involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps,” she said.
“We trust the US justice system will rapidly bring full clarity to this alleged criminal act,” she added.
The US Justice Department on Tuesday charged two men with conspiring with Iranian government factions to blow up Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir on US soil.
A criminal complaint named Manssor Arbabsiar, 56, a naturalised US citizen holding Iranian and US passports, and Gholam Shakuri, an Iran-based member of the Quds Force, a unit of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The EU has slapped a raft of sanctions against Iranian officials over human rights violations and the Islamic republic’s refusal to halt controversial nuclear activities.
