Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 20 /Trend/
Obama administration officials on Wednesday denied Iranian news reports that a man charged in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States is actually an agent of an exiled Iranian opposition group, The New-York Times reported.
"We note that these reports originate solely with Iranian state media sources, which have a documented history of fabricating news stories," said Rhonda H. Shore, a State Department spokeswoman.
American officials said they are sure that the man, Gholam Shakuri, is an officer of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as asserted in the criminal complaint unveiled last week by the Justice Department.
Iranian media sources said one of the two suspects in a US alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington belongs to the outlawed and armed opposition group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) - a terrorist group responsible for the death of thousands of Iranian, Iraqi and western people and officials during the last 5 decades.
Shakuri is actually a "key member" of the MKO, media reported.
An Interpol spokeswoman declined to comment. But an American official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Interpol had discovered no link to the opposition group, calling the Iranian news report "pure fiction."
Earlier this week Parliament's Speaker Ali Larijani said Manssour Arbabsiar, 56, another Iranian detainees accused of an alleged plot, is a drug and alcohol addict who has mental disorders.
Last week, the U.S. authorities said they had broken up plans by two men linked to Iranian Quds Force to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir.
Iran denies the allegations saying the U.S. uses this tactic to slander again Iran. The IRGC also rejected any involvement of the Quds force in the plot alleged by the United States.
Iran and Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, are regional rivals. The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons and are putting pressure to abandon it. Iran has denied the charges, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity and producing isotopes to treat medical patients.
Edited by T.Konyayeva.