Manssor Arbabsiar, the Iranian-American car salesman accused of plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, will go on trial October 22, a federal judge has said.
Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri, whom U.S. authorities said was a member of the Qods Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, were charged in October with plotting to kill Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir in a Washington restaurant.
Arbabsiar has pleaded not guilty.
Shakuri is at large.
U. S. District Judge John Keenan told lawyers in Manhattan on February 7 that it would be unfair to everyone involved to let the case drag out.
Tehran has dismissed accusations that it played a role in the alleged plot as ridiculous and unfounded.
Compiled from agency reports