Jeddah: Riyadh says it is determined to
respond against Tehran for its alleged plot against the Saudi
ambassador in Washington, but analysts expect only diplomatic
measures, including a possible appeal to the International
Criminal Court.
"We will not yield to (Iran`s pressure) and we will hold
them accountable for each hostile action, to which Saudi
Arabia will find a suitable response," warned Foreign Minister
Prince Saud al-Faisal, quoted by the Saudi media.
Prince Saud, speaking in Vienna on Thursday during the
inauguration of an inter-religious centre, slammed the alleged
plot against Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir unveiled by the United
States, calling it an "ignoble act."
"Iran`s leadership is pursuing its interference in the
affairs of other countries and its repeated attempts to...
destabilise states," in the region, he said.
The Saudi chief diplomat accused Iran of dispatching "its
agents to various Arab countries" including Kuwait, Iraq and
Lebanon, the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper reported.
"This is not the first time Iran has been suspected of
undertaking such actions," another Saudi-owned daily, Asharq
Al-Awsat, quoted him as saying.
Tehran has strongly denied any involvement in what
Washington says was a plot by the Revolutionary Guards` elite
Quds force to kill Jubeir by hiring assassins from a Mexican
drug cartel for USD 1.5 million.
Washington has named two principal suspects in the
case: Manssor Arbabsiar, a used-car salesman who is a
naturalised US citizen, and Gholam Shakuri, said to be an
Iran-based Quds force operative.
PTI
