Officials in Washington said Monday they would grant consular access to the U.S.-held suspect in an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said officials do not believe the suspect, Manssor Arbabsia, 56, is entitled to consular visits because he is a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen. But the agency has long encouraged authorities to allow consular visits in such cases and would do so this time, he said. Earlier, a senior administration official said Monday the United States will grant access if Iran formally requests it. The Iranian Foreign Ministry posted a statement to its website Sunday saying that it had given a note demanding access to Arbabsia. but Toner said that it did not appear that the request had been received yet.U.S. will grant access to suspect if requested, State Department spokesman saysIran demands access to the man arrested in the alleged assassination plotForeign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says Iran has asked the U.S. for information about allegationsIran denies U.S. claims there has already been a meeting with an American envoy
_'s apparent willingness to look at evidence of the plot comes in stark contrast to the response of the country's supreme leader.