An Iranian-American citizen has pleaded guilty to plotting with the Iranian military to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States.
Manssor Arbabsiar, 58, entered the guilty plea in federal court in New York.
Arbabsiar, a U.S. citizen who holds an Iranian passport, could face up to 25 years in prison.
Sentencing was set for January 23.
Arbabsiar was arrested in September 2011 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
He has been charged along with co-defendant Gholam Shakuri, a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force, of plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador by hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million.
Shakuri is at large.
Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the alleged plot.
Manssor Arbabsiar, 58, entered the guilty plea in federal court in New York.
Arbabsiar, a U.S. citizen who holds an Iranian passport, could face up to 25 years in prison.
Sentencing was set for January 23.
Arbabsiar was arrested in September 2011 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
He has been charged along with co-defendant Gholam Shakuri, a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force, of plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador by hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million.
Shakuri is at large.
Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the alleged plot.