The European Union has imposed sanctions on five Iranians for alleged involvement in the “assassination plot” against Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador in Washington.
Reuters reports that the sanctions include travel restrictions and the freezing of all of their assets in EU banks.
Mansour Arbabsiar, the prime suspect in the alleged plot, who is currently in U.S. custody, is one of the people blacklisted. U.S. officials claim that Arbabsiar, an Iranian who also holds U.S. citizenship, has confessed to attempting to arrange a $1.5-million plot to assassinate Al-Jubeir.
In addition, Gholam Shakouri, another Iranian and allegedly a member of Iran’s Quds Force, has been indicted by U.S. authorities for involvement in the alleged plot.
The other people blacklisted by the EU are Ghassem Soleymani, Hamed Abdolahi and Reza Shahlayi, who are also named as members of the Quds Force, the international arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Force.
While the U.S. has accused Iranian authorities of initiating the plot, Iran insists that the charges are “a political and media show” to distract attention from American economic woes and the Occupy Wall Street protest movement.
