Iran is ‘ready to examine’ U.S. plot accusations, its foreign minister says

Iran is “ready to examine” information the United States says supports accusations Tehran plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday.

“We are ready to examine with deliberation any issue, even if it was fabricated. We have asked America to provide us with information of this scenario,” Salehi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

Iran has sent a letter to U.S. authorities via the Swiss embassy in Tehran asking for information about an Iranian-American in U.S. custody accused of being at the centre of the alleged plot. It also demanded consular access to the suspect, AFP reported.

Iranian officials and leaders have fiercely denied any involvement in the alleged plot, calling it an attempt by Washington to divert attention from domestic economic woes and foreign policy failures in the Middle East.

The denials have become louder as the United States has made moves to rally other nations to a bid to further isolate Iran, which is already subject to severe economic sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.

Manssor Arbabsiar, who holds U.S. and Iranian citizenship, was arrested in September over the plot which Tehran called a fabricated “comedy show” but which U.S. lawmakers said was “very real” and showed the need for tougher sanctions on Iran, according to Reuters.

U.S. authorities announced the plot last Tuesday, saying Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had paid a U.S. undercover agent posing as a Mexican drug cartel hit man to assassinate Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir.

Many experts, and some Washington officials, expressed doubts over the plot, which even the head of the FBI said sounded like a Hollywood script, but the heads of the intelligence committees in the U.S. Congress appeared on television on Sunday to say it should be taken seriously.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said she was initially skeptical when first briefed about the plot in September but now believed “it’s very real.”

“Our country should not be looking to go to war,” Feinstein told the “Fox News Sunday” program. “We should be looking to stop bad behavior, short of war.”

President Barack Obama said on Thursday that Iran -- already at odds with Western governments over its nuclear program -- would face the toughest possible sanctions and the United States would not take any options off the table, the standard code to refer to possible military action.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss charge d’affaires who represents U.S. interests in the country that broke ties with Washington shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“There is no doubt regarding the baselessness of the U.S. allegations,” a ministry official told the Swiss representative, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

“However, providing personal information about the accused and consular access to him is among the duties of the U.S. government. Any delay in that respect would be in contravention of international law and the U.S. government's responsibilities,” the unidentified official said.

Iran’s diplomatic interests in the United States are handled by an office in the Pakistani embassy.