US views Thai attack in context of Iran-linked plots

State Dept: US will await results of investigations, but notes attacks "come on heels of other attacks with Iranian fingerprints."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Thailand blast 390 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Thailand blast 390
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Without laying blame on Tehran for the spate of recent attacks in Thailand, Georgia and India, the United States on Tuesday noted that they "come on the heels of other disrupted attacks that do have Iranian fingerprints on them."
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters at a Washington briefing that the US will await the results of the various investigations into the attacks before casting blame on any country or group.
"With regard to this bombing, Nuland said, "the incidents in Delhi, incidents in Georgia, while we will await the results of the investigations, these events do come on the heels of other disrupted attacks targeted at Israel and Western interests, including an Iranian-sponsored attack in Baku, Azerbaijan, and a Hezbollah-linked attack in Bangkok, Thailand before this."
The United States, she added, notes that the recent attacks come "in the context of a whole series of these kinds of things."
An alleged Iranian plot to bomb targets in Bangkok was prevented Tuesday, when an explosion occurred as members of a terror cell were assembling explosive devices.
Their target, Israeli defense officials said, was likely an Israeli institution or diplomat in Thailand’s capital. Suspects in the attack were believed to be Iranian nationals.
One day before, near-simultaneous attacks were launched against Israeli diplomatic targets in New Delhi and the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. The wife of an Israeli official was injured in the India attack, while police managed to neutralize the explosive device in Tbilisi.
In India, investigators are believed to be looking into the possibility that either Lebanese or Palestinian nationals carried out Monday’s attack, with logistical support from local operatives affiliated with an extremist Islamic group or individuals who subscribe to anti-Israel violence.
A senior official said on condition of anonymity that the involvement of Iranians was not being ruled out. Investigators are looking into the possibility that Iranian students at Indian colleges provided logistical support for the attack, and Iranians who have entered India as tourists are under the scanner as well.
Yaakov Katz, Herb Keinon and Kanchan Gupta contributed to this report.