U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement today after U.S. authorities thwarted an Iranian plot to bomb the Israeli and Saudi Arabian embassies in Washington and assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States:

“I want to thank the intelligence and law enforcement communities for their dedicated and outstanding work in thwarting this attempted attack. Iran has shown the world once again it poses an existential threat to the world community. We must stand together and make it crystal clear - we cannot, and will not, tolerate a nuclear Iran that would pose an even greater threat. That is why Congress must pass the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Sanctions Consolidation Act, my bi-partisan legislation that increases economic pressure on Iran. Until Iran halts its nuclear ambitions, we must do everything in our power to enforce sanctions and choke them off from the global economy.”

More details on the breaking story are at the Washington Post [http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/2011/10/11/gIQAiaYxcL_story.html] and CNN [http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/11/official-fbi-dea-disrupt-terror-plot-in-u-s-involving-iran/].