Authorities foiled an alleged plot that was directed by factions of the Iranian government to bomb the Israeli and Saudi Arabian embassies in Washington and a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday at a press conference.

The criminal complaint, which unsealed in federal court in New York City Tuesday, identified the two alleged plotters as Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri, both with ties to Iran, Reuters reported. Arbabsiar has been jailed in New York since September and  Shakuri remains at large.

The complaint alleges that Iran helped conceived, sponsored and directed from Iran. Holder called the alleged plot was a “flagrant violation of US and international law” and the U.S. will hold Iran accountable.

According to the complaint, last Spring, Arbabsiar met with an informant from the DEA agent in Mexico posing as a member of a powerful cartel. Eventually Arbabsiar allegedly offered money to the informant to assassinate the ambassador for $1.5 million. Arbabsiar allegedly wired $100,000 into a U.S. bank account. Arbabsiar allegedly confessed to his participation in the alleged plot. 

FBI Director Robert Mueller says many lives could have been lost in the plot to kill the ambassador with bombs in the U.S.

Arbabsair, a naturalized U.S. citizen who holds an Iranian passport, allegedly expressed disregard for the collateral damage that the attacks in Washington would have caused.

The two are charged with conspiracy to kill a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism and other charges.

Holder said the U.S. government would be taking unspecified action against the Iranian government as early as Tuesday afternoon. Asked whether the plot was blessed by the top echelons of the Iranian government, Holder said the Justice Department was not making that accusation.

(Source: Fox News)