Obama: Iran Plot Evidence Will Convince Skeptics

The alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's man in Washington sounds far-fetched, but skeptical foreign governments have been presented with evidence, State Department officials say. President Obama, in his first remarks about the plot, promised to push for "the toughest sanctions" against Iran and said US officials know that the Iranian-American man involved "had direct links, was paid by, and directed by individuals in the Iranian government," the New York Times reports.

"We would not be bringing forward a case unless we knew exactly how to support all the allegations that are contained in the indictment," Obama told reporters. World leaders have been presented with the facts, and when they are analyzed, "there will not be a dispute," he said. At the United Nations yesterday, where the US is seeking to gain support for branding Iran an international outlaw, US allies including Britain and France described the evidence of a plot as convincing, while Russia and China were more cautious, AP reports. (More Iran stories.)