Israel says Bangkok, Delhi, and Tbilisi attacks all linked – to Iran
The Israeli ambassador to Thailand said that the bombs used in all three countries had similarities implying a common source. Two suspects were arrested carrying Iranian passports.
A policeman uses his mobile phone to take a photograph at the site of an explosion in the Ekamai area in central Bangkok on Feb. 15. Thai investigators believe they have found a link between this week's bomb blasts in Bangkok and New Delhi, a senior security official said on Wednesday, two of three attacks Israel has blamed on Iran.
Kerek Wongsa/Reuters
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Skip to next paragraphRecent posts
-
05.17.13
Russia boosts its naval presence in Syria, sends regime new missiles (+video) -
05.16.13
Afghanistan blast targets NATO convoy, kills at least 6 (+video) -
05.15.13
I spy, you spy: Russian officials downplay Fogle incident -
05.14.13
Syrian rebel's video surfaces amid intensified pressure for action on Syria -
05.13.13
A flurry of diplomacy over Syria, but will it amount to progress?
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
The Israeli ambassador to Bangkok said today that bombs discovered in a house in Thailand were similar to those used in India and Georgia earlier this week, implying a link between the three attacks that Israel has blamed on Iran.
The Thai police said it was too early to draw links, The New York Times reports. After yesterday’s attacks, they caught two men carrying Iranian passports. They are still searching for two other suspects, whom they also believe are Iranian. One of them is said to have fled to Malaysia.
Itzhak Shoham, the Israeli ambassador, said the devices found in Bangkok were similar to the explosives used in New Delhi and Tbilisi, Georgia and had magnets that would allow them to be attached to metal objects. In both New Delhi and Tbilisi they were affixed to cars.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday at the Knesset that Iran is “undermining the world’s stability,” Haaretz reports.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Israel’s allegations were “baseless” and accused Israel of “trying to damage its relations with Thailand and fuel ‘conspiracy’ theories,” the Associated Press reports.
Will Hartley, the editor of Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center in London, said the attacks were all “highly amateurish” and lacked the “sophistication” of a typical operation by either Hezbollah or Iran’s Quds Force, according to The New York Times.









These comments are not screened before publication. Constructive debate about the above story is welcome, but personal attacks are not. Please do not post comments that are commercial in nature or that violate any copyright[s]. Comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence will be removed. If you find a comment offensive, you may flag it.