Updated at 8.45pm
ISRAELI EMBASSIES and diplomats have been targeted by bomb attacks in India and Georgia.
The AP reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Iran for the bombings. Speaking in parliament today, Netanyahu accused Iran of being “the largest exporter of terror in the world”.
Iran has denied responsibility for the attacks. A government spokesperson was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as dismissing Netanyahu’s comments as part of a “psychological war against Iran”.
An Israeli diplomat’s wife and three other people were injured when a bomb exploded and destroyed an embassy car in New Delhi, close to the Israeli embassy. Al Jazeera reports that the diplomat’s wife was being driven to collect her children from school at the time of the explosion.
Meanwhile, the driver of an Israeli embassy vehicle in Tbilisi, Georgia discovered a package attached to the car’s undercarriage and alerted the authorities. A grenade was found and successfully defused.
Both attacks bore similarities to the recent assassination of a nuclear scientist in Tehran in which a magnetic bomb was attached to the official’s car before detonation.
Tension
Today’s violence has heightened tensions between Israel and Iran. In recent weeks, comments by Israeli officials have raised concerns that Israel may be considering an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Israeli military analyst Reuven Pedatzur said Monday’s action was unlikely to have any bearing on whether Israel attacks Iran, and instead referred to the explosion as an “isolated incident”.
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