The Kingdom on Wednesday strongly condemned the “sinful and abhorrent” attempt to assassinate Adel Al-Jubeir, its ambassador to Washington, an official government source said. The official Saudi reaction came a day after the United States claimed Iran was behind the plot. “The Kingdom strongly condemns the sinful and abhorrent attempt to assassinate the (Saudi) envoy... to the United States,” Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the official as saying. “The Government of the Kingdom appreciates the efforts exerted by the American authorities, which were followed by the Kingdom, in uncovering the plot,” the official added. Saudi Arabia, he said, will continue to coordinate with the US authorities over “this mean conspiracy and those behind it.” The Kingdom is also “looking into measures and decisive steps that it will take in this regard to stop these criminal acts, and to firmly address all attempts to shake the stability of the Kingdom and endanger its security and sow sedition between its people,” the spokesman added. “The Kingdom calls on the Arab and Islamic nations and the international community to assume their responsibilities in the face of these terrorist acts and the attempts to threaten state stability, and world security and peace,” he said. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also condemned the plot saying it harms Gulf-Iranian relations. Abdullatif Al-Zayani, GCC chief, said attempt to kill the Saudi envoy was a “flagrant violation of all laws and agreements,” adding it was “severely harmful to the relations between GCC member states and Iran.” In other developments, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister, held telephonic talks with Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, and discussed with her the assassination attempt on Al-Jubeir, a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said on his Twitter page. Meanwhile, the United States is discussing with Saudi Arabia and other allies the possibility of taking up the matter with the United Nations Security Council, a Western diplomat said requesting anonymity. “The United States and Saudi Arabia and other allies are discussing the possibility of taking this to the Security Council because this is an assault on a foreign diplomat in the US,” said the diplomat, who is familiar with such discussions. The diplomat said formal talks were likely to begin soon but did not say whether any party would seek a resolution, sanctions or any other action. “The US is taking this very seriously,” the diplomatic source said.
