Lebanon: US ‘plot’ claim unbelievable

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has dismissed the US allegation of Tehran’s involvement in a plot to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington, describing it as unbelievable.

At a Thursday meeting in the Lebanese capital Beirut with the Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Rokn-Abadi, Mansour said that no diplomat could ever believe Washington’s accusation against Iran, Mehr News Agency reported.

Last week, the US Justice Department accused Iran of involvement in a plot to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel Al-Jubeir with help from a suspected member of a Mexican drug cartel.

Iran has categorically denied the claim, saying it is a ‘ludicrous’ one based on the joint US-Israel position against the Islamic Republic and meant to divert attention from the growing anti-Wall Street movement across the United States.

Conveying a message from Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to his Lebanese counterpart, the Iranian envoy, meanwhile, pointed to Washington’s frequent failures in the region and said, “By leveling such charges [against Iran], the United States is seeking a way out of the quagmire it has been entangled in.”

Iran has even been denied access to Mansour Arbabsiar, the used-car dealer Washington says is behind the alleged plot. Arbabsiar has a criminal record and is described as hopelessly disorganized by his family and friends.

Following the meeting, Rokn-Abadi told reporters, “We have formally requested the US authorities twice to submit the case to us, but they have not answered our requests so far. We believe that these charges aim to help the US to make up for the losses it has suffered in all areas.”