The terror plot by Iran that U.S. officials say they uncovered last week is a serious escalation of lawlessness by Tehran’s leaders that threatens not only American interests but those of other countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Mexico and Argentina figure prominently in the provocative scheme to hire assassins from the drug cartel Los Zetas for $1.5 million to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, bomb the Israeli Embassy in Washington, and the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Buenos Aires. The plot was as ambitious as it was bizarre.

Iran has dismissed the allegation as a fabrication, but the accusation must be taken seriously considering Iran’s record as a leading state sponsor of terrorism and its arrogant refusal to abide by international rules designed to prevent nuclear proliferation.

The current defense minister of Iran is Ahmad Vahedi, the former commander of the security apparatus known as the Quds Force, which has been instrumental in terror plots around the world for decades and offers support to radical movements in a number of countries.

He is still sought by Interpol for his role in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. The same group is believed to have been behind the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, as well as the assassination of prominent Iranian opposition figures living in exile.

An assassination inside the United States would be an unusually provocative act for the Iranian leadership, but Tehran’s mullahs are chafing under U.S.-led sanctions that have restricted the movement and financial transactions of prominent members of the government and deepened the country’s international isolation.

The timing of the plot gives credence to reports that the Iranian regime faces a factional power struggle. It also suggests that the pressure of sanctions, combined with domestic political opposition and weak economic performance, is driving Tehran’s leaders to desperation, which only makes them more dangerous. The prolonged political turmoil threatening the government of Iran’s neighbor and most important ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, increases the pressure.

On Thursday, President Obama rightly called the action part of a pattern of “dangerous and reckless behavior” by Iran government and said members of the government were aware of a murder-for-hire plot.

If other countries are not yet convinced, Mr. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should galvanize international public opinion by showing their evidence to the leaders of those countries and demanding an explanation from Iran’s leaders.

Within the hemisphere, the administration should also use this reckless scheme to highlight the efforts of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez to make his country Iran’s headquarters in this part of the world. Increased connections and travel between Tehran and Caracas have enabled Iran to establish a base for increased activity in the Americas.

The threat posed by Iran cannot be ignored. It has thumbed its nose at U.N. sanctions, plotted assassinations and sponsored murder and mayhem abroad. It’s time the world demanded a full accounting.

(Editorial, The Miami Herald )

(Distributed by MCT Information Services)