![Secretary of Defence James Mattis on 17 February, 2017 [Andreas Gebert/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/20170217_2_21918033_19011429.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
US Defence Secretary James Mattis confirmed in a televised interview that Iran planned to kill Saudi Ambassador Abdel Al-Jubeir in 2011 reported CBS’ Face the Nation.
Mattis told CBS that Iran causes “mischief everywhere”, including “trying to murder an Arab ambassador fewer than two miles away from the White House a couple of years ago.”
I’ve seen the intelligence; this was not a rogue agent. This was an operation approved at the highest levels.
The news follows President Donald Trump’s visit to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, which is being seen as a game changer for US-Saudi relations which have been unstable since the passing of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) in the US, which allows American victims of 9/11 to sue Saudi Arabia.