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Notorious Iranian Militant Has a Connection to Washington Plot
(Washington Post) Peter Finn - When nearly $100,000 landed in an undercover FBI bank account from a source linked to an Iranian paramilitary force, officials began taking seriously an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador that at first had seemed outlandish. Mansour Arbabsiar, accused of plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, is a cousin of Abdul Reza Shahlai, a senior commander in Iran's Quds Force, who has been linked to the killing of American troops in Iraq. On May 24, Arbabsiar traveled from Texas to Reynosa, Mexico, to meet with a man he believed was a member of Los Zetas, enforcers for the gulf drug cartel. In two more meetings in Mexico in July, in recorded conversations, Arbabsiar described his cousin as someone who has "got the government behind him," according to court papers. Arbabsiar said he told his cousin that he wanted "another fifteen," presumably $15,000. "Next morning, they send one guy, you know, that work for him. He's like a colonel, the guy," Arbabsiar said. "He bring the envelope." The colonel was Ali Gholam Shakuri, Shahlai's deputy.