Rasha Saad notes that not everyone believes there was an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US The US administration's revelation of an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel Al-Jubair, if verified, is likely to put more international pressure on the Islamic Republic, say the pundits. The charges made by the US last week were received with scepticism and questions in some circles. In the London-based daily Al-Hayat, Ghassan Charbel, wrote, "The fiasco of the Iraq war encourages this kind of questioning." In "The dangerous game", Charbel wrote that despite these doubts the fact that the charges were announced by the US attorney-general and that US President Barack Obama confirmed that his country has incontrovertible evidence, have both given a great deal of credibility to the plan. Charbel warned that if the facts of the "Washington plot" are confirmed, this will surely contribute to stepping up pressure on Iran on the nuclear issue, and prompt a revisit of allegations of Iran harbouring some elements from Al-Qaeda and of its responsibility of what is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq. This will be added to Iran's collision with the Gulf Cooperation Council over Bahrain and with a fraction of the Iraqis, Syrians and Lebanese because of its meddling, as well as the Arab Spring and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Charbel added. George Samaan, also in Al-Hayat, wrote that the charges "will move the cold war between the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia to a whole new level of confrontation and will also help the United States push the international community to tighten the noose around Tehran's neck." Samaan added that they will carry repercussions for the Arab protest movements, further complicating it in more than one arena, and consequently escalating confrontation even further. However, Samaan noted that it is not in the interest of either the US or Saudi Arabia to see a war erupt. On one hand, the US is preparing to leave Iraq and is facing numerous difficulties both there and in Afghanistan. Thus it is not likely to open a new front. Saudi Arabia, for its part, wishes to prevent the Arab Gulf from sliding into a fourth war, Samaan explained. Samaan, however, noted that a cold war, based on its definition, could mark the birth of settlements or the birth of confrontations. In the Saudi-financed Asharq Al-Awsat, Tariq Al-Homayed charged that for the past 10 years "Iran has focussed on damaging the interests of Saudi Arabia and tarnishing its reputation, sometimes through books and articles published at the international level, and unfortunately with the support of Arab allies." In his article "Is this the end of the regional Persian project?" Al-Homayed wrote that after the discovery of Iran's assassination plot it is likely to impose further sanctions upon it, and to bring it before the Security Council. I think that it is the beginning of the end, especially as many false slogans have collapsed as a result of the Syrian revolution, and today the biggest lie is in danger of collapsing -- namely that Iran is trustworthy," Al-Homayed wrote. Also in Asharq Al-Awsat, Abdel-Rahman Al-Rashed said it was hard to persuade some people that the event never occurred, citing reports that Iran planned to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington as an example. In his article "Dismissing the assassination story" Al-Rashed wrote that the ambassador was never attacked and was not killed. But, according to Al-Rashed, what is clear is that ever since the 1979 revolution, Iran has been pursuing an aggressive policy against its enemies, and places Saudi Arabia high on its list of hostile countries. He added that revolutionary Iran has only produced one moderate leader: Mohamed Khatami, who adopted a moderate policy based on opening up to the world, and was thus criticised domestically. In the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abdel-Bari Atwan criticised the details provided by the US administration about the Iranian assassination plot as being "limited and confusing." Atwan explained that he was not absolving Iran from planning to implement attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington or elsewhere "but at the same time I hesitate very much to trust any of the US versions after being bitten by it more than once. We cannot forget the fabrications about the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction," Atwan wrote. Atwan said it was no secret that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fears growing Iranian military capabilities and political influence. According to Atwan, Saudi King Abdullah had demanded from the United States to "cut off the head of the Iranian snake" as soon as possible. Abdullah's government accused Iran one week earlier of trying to undermine the kingdom's security by standing behind demonstrations by the Shia minority in the Eastern Province which led to the attack on a police station that injured 13 policemen, Atwan wrote. Atwan wrote that he does not dispute that any attempt to bomb the Saudi Embassy or assassinate its ambassador is a criminal terrorist act and those perpetrating it should be severely punished because it is the ugliest form of thuggery, a violation of international norms and treaties, and ultimately a declaration of war.
