Charles Dharapak / AP Photo
If U.S. officials are correct in their allegation that a covert Iranian government unit was behind the plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., it could signal the spread of Iran’s secret spy activities. Iran’s ties to planned terrorist attacks have dropped off since a Western crackdown in the 1990s, and security officials said the thwarted plot was the first in the U.S. tied to the Quds Force, a secretive unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. officials said the Quds Force and IRGC have historically been close to Hizbullah, and a secret unit of Quds known as Department 9000 has also been active in Iraq. FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday the two Iranian men had been “directed” by at least parts of the Iranian government.