Iran blamed for ‘revenge’ attacks on Israeli diplomats

By BEN LYNFIELD
Published on Tuesday 14 February 2012 00:00

Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia were targeted yesterday in near simultaneous strikes believed to be attempts by Iran to retaliate for repeated assassinations of its nuclear scientists.

In New Delhi, the bombing of an Israeli diplomatic vehicle lightly wounded four people, including Tal Koren, the wife of Israel’s defence attaché. Meanwhile, an attempt to bomb the car of an Israeli embassy employee in Tbilisi was thwarted after its driver discovered the explosive package and called police.

There were no claims of responsibility, but prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran and its ally, the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, for yesterday’s incidents. Israeli analysts predicted there would be more attacks and said US and British interests may also soon be targeted as Iran settles scores with those seeking to thwart its nuclear aspirations.

“Iran, which is behind the two attacks, is the greatest exporter of terrorism in the world,” Mr Netanyahu told legislators from his Likud party. “The government of Israel and its security services will continue together with the local security services to act against the international terror whose source is Iran.”

The Israeli premier said Israel had thwarted similar recent attempts in Azerbaijan and Thailand. Ephraim Kam, deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said yesterday’s attacks were either Iranian pay-back for the killing of its nuclear scientists or else were Hezbollah attempts to avenge the assassination of its military leader, Imad Mughniyeh four years ago. The anniversary of Mr Mughniyeh’s killing, widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, was marked on Sunday by Hezbollah.

Iran’s enemy list is Israel, the US and Britain in that order and all could offer potential targets, in Mr Kam’s view.

Israel, like the West, accuses Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, and defence minister Ehud Barak has been increasingly strident in recent weeks in putting forth the view that time is running out to stop an Iranian bomb.

Last month, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a director at Iran’s main uranium enrichment site, was killed in an explosion from a magnetic bomb placed on his car, becoming the fifth member of Iran’s scientific community to be assassinated in the past two years. Iran blamed Israel, while its IRNA news agency said there was evidence of US and British involvement. A spokesman for Iran’s army said last month that Iran was deciding on the punishment for those involved in the assassination.

“The enemies of the Iranian nation, especially the US, Britain and the Zionist regime, or Israel, have to be held responsible for their activities,” he said.

In Delhi, police commissioner B.K. Gupta said the attack took place near the prime minister’s residence as Ms Koren, the diplomat’s wife, was heading to the American embassy school to pick up her children. When the car approached a crossing, she noticed a motorcyclist ride up and stick something on it, he said. The car drove a short distance, there was a loud sound and then an explosion and the car caught fire, he added. In addition to Ms Koren, her driver, and two people in a nearby car sustained injuries.

Were Iran behind the New Delhi attack, it would be a stunning violation against one of its stronger allies – Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has resisted US and EU pressure to curtail trade with Iran over the nuclear issue.

Israeli analyst Ron Ben-Yishai, said that if Iran had wanted to project power through yesterday’s attacks, it had failed. “These are attacks of the type we see in underworld killings. It appears that the dreadful scenarios of Iran and Hezbollah being able to set ablaze the international arena are not realistic,” he wrote.