US demands Iran be punished with UN sanctions

The United States has urged the world to take concerted action against Iran for an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador on American soil, calling it a “dangerous escalation.” Secretary of State Clinton rallied support for tough new measures against Iran, although it was not immediately clear what they might be.
“We call upon other nations to join us in condemning this threat to international peace and security,” Clinton urged. This plot was “a flagrant violation of international and US law, and a dangerous escalation of the Iranian government’s longstanding use of political violence and sponsorship of terrorism. “This kind of reckless act undermines international norms and the international system. Iran must be held accountable for its actions.” The US Treasury meanwhile slapped sanctions on Mahan Air, a Tehran-based commercial airline accused of ferrying around the Middle East members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps implicated in the plot. The airline’s assets in the United States were frozen and US citizens were barred from doing business with the firm.
US President Barack Obama called King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to reaffirm ties in the wake of what the White House called an “Iranian-directed conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador in Washington, DC.” Iran, which faces four rounds of UN sanctions over its nuclear program, has sent a letter of protest to the Security Council accusing Washington of “warmongering.” France and Britain agreed to back US demands for further action at the United Nations, but criticism was notably muted from vital veto-wielding Security Council members Russia and China.
Iran urges Saudi to avoid US ‘trap’:
Iran on Thursday urged Saudi Arabia “not to fall into the trap” of believing US claims that Tehran was behind an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, saying the accusations only served the United States and Israel. “I am asking Saudi Arabia not to fall into the trap, because any disturbance in relations between countries in the (Middle East) region will only benefit the United States and the Zionist regime,” said Ali Ahani, Iran’s deputy foreign minister in charge of Europe and America affairs, according to the IRNA news agency. Ahani was quoted as saying that “we hope that Saudi Arabia will understand the aims of this plot” which he said was mounted by the US. “This pathetic and conspirational scenario is so clumsy that even American media and political circles are looking at it with doubt,” he said.