October 11, 2011

WASHINGTON (JTA) — U.S. officials say they frustrated an Iranian plot to use a weapon of mass destruction on American soil.

Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday outlined charges filed in New York City against two men — an Iranian American and an Iranian. The Iranian American is in custody, while the Iranian is at large.

Holder alleged that the plot involved a plan to hire members of the Mexican drug cartel to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington.

In addition to the planned assassination, the men were charged with plotting a terrorist act that would have involved a weapon of mass destruction.

Holder said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was involved in the plot.

“The United States is committed to holding Iran accountable,” he said.

Other officials at a Department of Justice news conference suggested that the plot, if carried out, would have inflicted mass casualties.

“Many lives would have been lost,” said FBI director Robert Mullen.

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