NICOSIA — Iran has indicted 18 prominent Americans on criminal
charges.
The Teheran regime said the Iranian judiciary has drafted indictments
against 18 current and former U.S. officials. Those indicted included
analysts who testified to Congress in 2011.
“The charges would include involvement in terror attacks,” Iranian
deputy judiciary chief Ibrahim Raisi said.
Raisi did not identify those Americans listed in the draft indictments.
He said Teheran would release evidence meant to bolster the charges.
This marked the first time that Iran, whose leaders were under U.S.
sanctions, has confirmed plans to indict American officials. The indictments have been sent to Teheran’s prosecutor-general for review before their release.
The website Irannuc, which covers Teheran’s nuclear program, reported that those indicted included former U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Jack Keane and Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA analyst. In October 2011, the two men
were quoted as calling on the United States to kill members of
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“Why don’t we kill them?” Keane told a congressional committee. “We kill
other people who are running terrorist organizations against the United
States. These guys have killed almost 1,000 of us. Why don’t we kill them?”
This marked the second Iranian attempt in as many years to threaten
Americans. In 2011, the Iranian parliament approved legislation to ban
contact with several Americans, including former Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld.
