AFP, Washington, 11Oct  2011 – Saudi Arabia on Tuesday branded an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate its ambassador in Washington as ‘despicable’, saying it violated ‘the principles of humanity.’
‘The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia would like to express its appreciation to the responsible agencies of the United States government for preventing a criminal act from taking place,’ the Saudi embassy in Washington said in a statement.
‘The attempted plot is a despicable violation of international norms, standards and conventions and is not in accord with the principles of humanity.’
Earlier US justice officials announced that they had broken up a ‘chilling’ plot planned high up in the Iranian government to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington by bombing a restaurant he frequented.
The plot against Adel Al-Jubeir, known as Saudi King Abdullah’s closest adviser on foreign affairs, infringes a convention that ‘explicitly protects diplomats from being harmed,’ said US Attorney General Eric Holder.
‘The complaint alleges that this conspiracy was conceived, sponsored and directed from Iran and constitutes a flagrant violation of US and international law,’ Holder said.