Iran Says Suspect In Assassination Plot Is In US

Iran has confirmed INTERPOL is demanding that Iran hand over Gholam Shakouri, one of the prime suspects in the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.

Al-Arabiah quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi saying there are 150 people in Iran named Gholam Shakouri.

“We have received a question from international police regarding this name,” Ali Akbar Salehi said. “Our investigation revealed that there is an individual by the name of Gholam Shakouri who lives in the U.S. and is a member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization.”

The People’s Mojahedin of Iran Organization is an Iranian dissident exile group, which the Islamic Republic views as a terrorist group and one of its arch enemies.

The U.S. authorities claim Gholam Shakouri is a member of the Qods Force, the international arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, and they accuse him of being involved in a plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir.

Also accused is Mansour Arbabsiar, an Iranian-American citizen already in U.S. custody. Arbabsiar has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Iranian foreign minister announced that the U.S. has agreed to provide Iran with the case file and to let Iranian authorities meet with Arbabsiar in prison.

The U.S. has accused five Iranians of involvement in the case and alleges that the IRGC initiated the plot.