Foiled Iranian Death Plot Reads Like A Spy Novel

{
  "authors": [
    "Karim Sadjadpour"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Middle East",
    "Iran",
    "Saudi Arabia"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Security"
  ]
}

In The Media

Foiled Iranian Death Plot Reads Like A Spy Novel

The alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, while inconsistent with past Iranian actions, could have been driven by regional rivalries between Tehran and Riyadh.

By Karim Sadjadpour

Published on Oct 13, 2011

Source: NPR

Speaking on NPR, Carnegie’s Karim Sadjadpour noted that an alleged foiled plot by members of the Iranian Quds force to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States “seems to be inconsistent with past operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.” In the past, he explained, the Revolutionary Guards would carry out operations in places that they knew they could get away with it, like in South America. Furthermore, they typically have not worked with non-Muslim proxies like the Mexican drug cartel allegedly involved in the plot.

Yet while the plan does not seem to be consistent with past Iranian actions, “there is a great deal of antipathy between Riyadh and Tehran,” suggested Sadjadpour, and such tension could be seen as a catalyst for the assassination attempt. He concluded that attacking the Saudi ambassador to the United States while he is in Washington could be an effort to defy both the Saudis and the United States.

About the Author

Karim Sadjadpour

Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Karim Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.

Recent Work

Q&A
What’s Keeping the Iranian Regime in Power—for Now
- Aaron David Miller, Karim Sadjadpour, Robin Wright
Q&A
How Washington and Tehran Are Assessing Their Next Steps
- Aaron David Miller, David Petraeus, Karim Sadjadpour

Security Middle East Iran Saudi Arabia

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie China

Commentary
China’s Mediation Offer in the Thailand-Cambodia Border Dispute Sheds Light on Beijing’s Security Role in Southeast Asia
The Thai-Cambodian conflict highlights the limits to China's peacemaker ambition and the significance of this role on Southeast Asia’s balance of power.
Pongphisoot (Paul) Busbarat
Commentary
Emissary
China Is Determined to Hold Firm Against Trump’s Pressure
Beijing believes that Washington is overestimating its own leverage and its ability to handle the trade war’s impacts.
Rick Waters, Sheena Chestnut Greitens
Commentary
A Second Trump Term: Will Southeast Asia Tilt Toward China?
Tapping our network of China experts in the region, Carnegie China offers this latest “China Through a Southeast Asian Lens” report to offer preliminary assessments of whether the U.S. effort to reshape the global trading order will lead countries in the region to tilt toward Beijing.
+6
Selina Ho, Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, Joseph Ching Velasco, …
Research
China Through a Southeast Asian Lens
Because strategic, economic, and ideological perceptions of China contain multiple, sometimes contradictory facets in Southeast Asia, receptions of and responses to Beijing diverge across and within state lines.
Evan A. Feigenbaum, Chong Ja Ian, Elina Noor
Article
Northeast Asia Is for Deterrence and Southeast Asia Is (Mostly) for Freeriding: Appreciating Divergent East Asian Approaches to Order, Uncertainty, and Contestation
Most Southeast Asian states behave as if the actions of their Northeast Asian neighbors and the Philippines will be sufficient to maintain a regional status quo from which they can benefit.
Chong Ja Ian

More Work from Carnegie China

Commentary

China’s Mediation Offer in the Thailand-Cambodia Border Dispute Sheds Light on Beijing’s Security Role in Southeast Asia

The Thai-Cambodian conflict highlights the limits to China's peacemaker ambition and the significance of this role on Southeast Asia’s balance of power.

Pongphisoot (Paul) Busbarat

Commentary

Emissary

China Is Determined to Hold Firm Against Trump’s Pressure

Beijing believes that Washington is overestimating its own leverage and its ability to handle the trade war’s impacts.

Rick Waters, Sheena Chestnut Greitens

Commentary

A Second Trump Term: Will Southeast Asia Tilt Toward China?

Tapping our network of China experts in the region, Carnegie China offers this latest “China Through a Southeast Asian Lens” report to offer preliminary assessments of whether the U.S. effort to reshape the global trading order will lead countries in the region to tilt toward Beijing.

- +6
Selina Ho, Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, Joseph Ching Velasco, …

Research

China Through a Southeast Asian Lens

Because strategic, economic, and ideological perceptions of China contain multiple, sometimes contradictory facets in Southeast Asia, receptions of and responses to Beijing diverge across and within state lines.

Evan A. Feigenbaum, Chong Ja Ian, Elina Noor

Article

Northeast Asia Is for Deterrence and Southeast Asia Is (Mostly) for Freeriding: Appreciating Divergent East Asian Approaches to Order, Uncertainty, and Contestation

Most Southeast Asian states behave as if the actions of their Northeast Asian neighbors and the Philippines will be sufficient to maintain a regional status quo from which they can benefit.

Chong Ja Ian