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The Iranian Threat to New York City

(Wall Street Journal) Mitchell D. Silber - On Monday, Israeli embassy workers in the capital cities of India and Georgia were targeted in terrorist attacks that Israeli officials believe were planned and carried out by Iran and its client, the militant group Hizbullah. Iran's next target could well be on American soil. In Senate testimony last month, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated that Iranian officials "are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime." He cited the plot directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate the Saudi ambassador by blowing up a Washington, D.C., restaurant - potentially killing hundreds of Americans in the process. Hizbullah has been tied to failed attacks in 2009 against Israeli and Jewish interests in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Turkey, and last month in Bangkok. In 2004, two security guards attached to the Iranian mission to the UN were sent home after being caught conducting surveillance of city subways and landmarks. In 2008, two Staten Island men pleaded guilty to providing material support to Hizbullah. In Philadelphia, 26 people were indicted in federal court in 2009 for conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist group. At least 18 other Hizbullah-related cases have been brought in federal courts across the U.S. since 2000. The writer is director of intelligence analysis for the New York City Police Department.
2012-02-14 00:00:00
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