Israel: Iran is behind blasts
Suspect is among five wounded in Bangkok attacks
BANGKOK – Israel accused Iran of waging a covert campaign of state terror that stretched this week from the Middle East to the heart of Asia after a bungled series of explosions led to the capture of two Iranian nationals in Bangkok.
Authorities in Israel ratcheted up security at home and abroad following Tuesday’s explosions in the Thai capital, escalating a confrontation over Iran’s suspect nuclear program and raising fears of war.
On Monday, an Israeli diplomat’s wife and driver were wounded in New Delhi when a bomb stuck to their minivan exploded, and another device was defused on an Israeli Embassy car in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Israel has threatened military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and Iran has blamed the Jewish state for the recent killings of Iranian atomic scientists.
Iran denied responsibility for the New Delhi and Georgia attacks, which appeared to mirror the killings of the Iranian scientists that used “sticky bombs.”
Four Thai civilians were wounded in Bangkok after a cache of explosives ignited at a house, apparently by mistake. One explosion blew off the leg of an Iranian who had fled, carrying what looked like grenades.
When police searched the Iranians’ home, the bomb squad found and defused two explosives, each made of three or four pounds of C-4 explosives inside a pair of radios. National Police Chief Gen. Prewpan Damapong said the bombs were “magnetic” and could be stuck on vehicles.
The wounded Iranian was in police custody at a Bangkok hospital. Immigration police detained a second Iranian as he tried to board a flight for Malaysia.
Both men were facing four charges including possession of explosives, attempted murder, attempted murder of a policeman and causing explosions that damaged property, Prewpan said.
Security forces were searching for a third Iranian suspect.
Israel’s Channel 10 TV quoted unidentified Thai authorities as saying the captured Iranians confessed to targeting Israeli interests.
There was no comment from Iranian officials in Tehran on Tuesday’s series of explosions in Thailand.
Thai government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisaeng said “we need more analysis” to determine who was behind the attack and whether Iran was involved.
There seemed to be no doubt in the minds of Israeli officials, who blamed Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah.
“The attempted terrorist attack in Bangkok proves once again that Iran and its proxies continue to perpetrate terror,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in Singapore. “The recent terror attacks are yet another example of this.”
Added Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, in an interview with Israel Radio: “We know who carried out the terror attacks, we know who sent them, and Israel will settle the score with them.”
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had thwarted attacks in recent months in Azerbaijan, Thailand and unspecified other countries.
The first blast in Bangkok ripped off part of the roof of an explosives-filled house where the three Iranians were staying, police said.
Surveillance video from just after that blast showed separate images of each suspect walking down the middle of a residential street.
One man – identified by police as Saeid Moradi – could be seen wearing a baseball cap and a dark jacket. He carried a large backpack over one shoulder and what appeared to be two portable transistor radios – one in each hand.
“He tried to wave down a taxi … and the driver refused to take him,” Police Gen. Pansiri Prapawat said. Moradi responded by hurling an explosive device – possibly a grenade – that partially destroyed the taxi and wounded its driver.
Police then tried to apprehend Moradi on a nearby street. He hurled a grenade at them, “but somehow it bounced back” and blew off his leg, Pansiri said.
Police said a second Iranian, Mohummad Hazaei, was detained at Bangkok’s international airport; he had been seen in the closed-circuit TV video also carrying a large backpack.