Israelis: Iran Behind Bangkok Blast

The failed bomb attack by an Iranian national in Bangkok today is just the latest in what Israeli
officials say is "a coordinated series of attacks" that began in January, and includes Monday's attacks
in India and Georgia, as well as a foiled attempt to assassinate the Israeli ambassador in Azerbaijan.
In Tuesday's bombing, an Iranian named Saeid Moradi was in a rented house in downtown Bangkok
when a cache of explosives detonated, apparently by accident, taking off a section of the roof.
Thai police say that Moradi, wounded by the explosion, tried to flag down a cab on the street. "He
was covered in blood, and the driver refused to take him," said Police General Pansiri Prapawat.
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Moradi then allegedly threw a grenade at the taxi, injuring the driver, and started running. When he
tried to hurl a second grenade at police, the bomb bounced off a tree. It exploded near Moradi and
took off his legs. Police will interview him as soon as they are able in order to determine what he
was plotting to attack.
Four Thai nationals were injured in the explosion. After the incident, Thai police detained a second
Iranian national who was attempting to fly from Bangkok to Malaysia. Another Iranian national
sought by police was still at large.
Israeli officials told ABC News "we don't know" what Moradi's intended target was "because he was
caught."
A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry has said there is no sign yet that Moradi's alleged targets
were Jewish or Israel. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, however, placed the blame on the Iranian
government. "The attempted terror attack in Thailand proves once again that Iran and its proxies
continue to operate in the ways of terror and the latest attacks are an example of that," said Barak
According to Israeli records, one of the most serious of the coordinated wave of attacks came in
January, when three Azerbaijani nationals were intercepted before they could attack Israeli
ambassador Michael Lotem and a rabbi and a woman at the Chabad center in Baku, the capital. In
the 2008 Mumbai attack, terrorists invaded the Chabad center in Mumbai and killed a rabbi, his wife
and four hostages.
Israeli officials say that three people have been arrested and they were in direct contact with Iranian
intelligence. According to the Israelis, the suspects had been promised 150,000 U.S. dollars on
completion of the assassination of the ambassador.
At the homes of the suspects, local police allegedly discovered drawings of the Israeli embassy,
information on the Israeli diplomatic vehicles and specific information on the ambassador.
Ambassador Lotem told local media in Azerbaijan Tuesday that Iran's "direct involvement" in both
the Indian and Bangkok bombings "is non-disputable."
On Monday, a motorcyclist placed a sticky bomb on a minivan belonging to the Israeli embassy in
New Delhi, India. Four people were injured in the explosion, including the wife of a diplomat and her

driver. A bomb placed on an Israeli car in Tblisi, Georgia failed to detonate and was defused.

In January, Thai police arrested a Lebanese-Swedish national with alleged links to Hezbollah, Iran's
Lebanese affiliate, who led them to a cache of explosive material. Days prior to the arrest, Israel and
the U.S. had both advised travelers to be wary of attacks on areas frequented by foreigners.