Why would Iran try to kill the Saudi Ambassador to the United States? If you wanted to you could come up with all sorts of grand Tom Clanceyan conspiracy theories, but often the simplest answer is probably correct. Iran and Saudi Arabia are regional rivals for power in the Middle East. Because the Iranians know that targeting a US or Israeli ambassador would mean certain war, they chose the next best thing to accomplish two goals: demonstrate their power to the Sunni Saudis and show the U.S. that they have a global reach.
Using our southern border shows our vulnerability; not to mention highlighting the ease with which the Mexican cartels (armed with Fast and Furious guns) can be used to continually degrade our national security.
The operation was amateurish and thankfully failed, but it does give one pause that there may be some destabilizing elements in the highest reaches of the Iranian regime. What if this was a rogue operation? Will the Saudis reply militarily? Do they have the capability to considering they had to pay off their "Arab Spring" protestors? Will this provocation increase Israeli fears of Iran's reach or do they already know their capabilities to operate in the west?
There are many other questions that could come out of this incident...stay tuned.
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