Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounces murder – plot as ploy against Iran

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounces murder – plot as ploy against Iran

President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, expressed his views in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Monday, October 17. He said that the allegations put forward by the US government on Iran being the orchestrator of a murder plot against the Saudi Arabian Ambassador, Adel al-Jubeir, was a ploy to impose sanctions.

The response came after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reported the controversial development to the United Nations Security Council. Tehran terms the move as a ploy to invoke sanctions on the nation that has been on a confrontational front against the US government and Riyadh for a very long time now. Ahmadinejad told the interviewer that anyone who hears the claim in Iran “laughs”.

The Iranian President told the news channel that the US government is trying to create new problems between the Saudi Kingdom and the Iranian government. He claimed that the US was trying to drive focus off its economic woes.

“We’re not worried about expressing our opposition … The US administration is sorely mistaken. The US administration might want to divert attention from what’s going on inside the US,” he said, speaking through a translator, during an interview broadcast live.

“The economic problems of the US are very serious, and by accusing Iran it’s not going to solve any problem.”

The Saudi government was first keen on not revealing Iran as a perpetrator and kept their reaction quiet as they stressed on investigating the matter first. That rhetoric changed when it was reported through a local newspaper in Saudi Arabia that the country had made its move in the UN Security Council.

“Saudi Arabia’s permanent mission to the United Nations… formally requested the United Nations Secretary General notify the Security Council of the heinous conspiracy,” the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.

The murder-plot in focus, involved two men who are reportedly linked to the Iranian authorities. They have been charged for plotting to conduct a bomb attack against the Saudi Ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubeir. Manssor Arbabsiar is one of the men convicted. The 56-year-old is an Iranian and a US citizen and he had been residing in Texas for a very long time.

The other man involved in the plot is Gholam Shaukuri, an Iranian member of the Quds Force Unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Both men are accused of working with the Iranian government, which is an allegation negated by the Iranians.

Tension has been mounting between the US and the Iranians since a very long time now. Iran has been accused of developing a nuclear weapon and that has created a severe rift between the two nations. The US government is trying to impose sanctions on the nation but that has not availed a desired effect, yet. On the other hand, there has also been sectarian violence growing in Saudi Arabia and that has been blamed on Iran.

Conflicts between Iran and the US or Saudi Arabia seem unlikely but there is growing tension in the world concerning the repercussions of an all out war. Though there is little chance of that happening, speculation is gaining steam.

Posted by Zuhaib Gull on Oct 20 2011. Filed under South Asia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry