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.