The US has imposed sanctions on an Iranian airline it says flew members of an elite force linked to an alleged plot to kill the Saudi envoy to the US.
The US Treasury says Mahan Air ferried operatives from Iran’s Quds Force and Hezbollah across the Middle East.
Under the sanctions, the airline’s US assets will be frozen and US firms barred from doing business with it.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meanwhile said the alleged plot was a “dangerous escalation” by Iran.
The sanctions were unveiled a day after the authorities announced they had foiled a conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir, on US soil using explosives.
‘Secretly ferrying operatives’
The US government accused members of the Iranian government – and the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard Corps – of involvement.
“It’s clear that senior levels of Quds force were engaged in the plotting,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
On Tuesday, the US also imposed sanctions against five people it linked to the alleged assassination plot, including two men charged over the investigation.
The pair were named as Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old naturalised US citizen with dual Iranian and US passports, and Gholam Shakuri, who is based in Iran.
Mr Shakuri and three others named in Tuesday’s sanctions were described as members of the Quds Force.
Mr Arbabsiar – accused of wiring $100,000 (£63,000) to a US bank account to finance the alleged $1.5m conspiracy – was charged in a New York City court on Tuesday.
US officials have said that the accused approached a US informant posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel to carry out the assassination.
Source:BBC
