Iran, Israel Play Blame Game Over Bangkok Blasts

[webfact]

Bomb plot deepens

Agencies, The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Iran, Israel play blame game over Bangkok blasts; Surapong: No link yet to terrorism; Travel advisories by US, UK, NZ, Canada, the Netherlands, Aust, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Ireland

Iran and Israel dropped diplomatic bombshells on each other yesterday, accusing one another of being behind Tuesday's bomb blasts in Bangkok.

Israel was quick to implicate Iran in the bomb incidents. "The attempted attack in Bangkok proves once again that Iran and its proxies are continuing to act in the ways of terror and the latest attacks are an example of that," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said.

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast denied his country was involved in any of the cases and said Tehran condemned any "terrorist action". He told the official IRNA news agency: "The aim of the Zionist regime's claims is to overshadow the assassination of Iranian scientists."

The Iranian spokesman also accused Israel of "trying to harm the friendly and historic relations between Iran and Thailand".

Also yesterday, the United States - a close ally of Israel - condemned the blasts in Thailand's capital and suggested they may be linked to Iran.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US was awaiting the results of investigations. She offered condolences to those injured.

'Iranian-sponsored links'

Nuland did not blame Irandirectly. But she noted Monday's incidents in India and Georgia, and recent "Iranian-sponsored" and "Hezbollah-linked" plots to attack Israeli and Western interests in Azerbaijan and Thailand. She called it "reprehensible" for states to use terrorism as a foreign policy tool.

Thai authorities are holding two Iranians in connection with the three explosions in Bangkok on Tuesday.

One of the men, named as 28-year-old Saeid Morati according to a passport found in his possession, lost both his legs when he tried to hurl an explosive device at police while fleeing an earlier blast at a house in the Sukhumvit area. The other Iranian was detained as he tried to board a flight out of Thailand. A third suspect who fled to Malaysia was arrested at Thailand's request.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul yesterday said Thai authorities have not described Tuesday's incident as an act of terrorism. But he urged terrorist groups not to include Thailand in their plots.

"At the moment, there is no evidence linking this incident to terrorism. So far the arrested [men] are accused of illegal use of explosives and of attempting to kill others and officials on duty," Surapong said. "Personally, I believe the incidents in Georgia, India, and Thailand have no connection."

He added, however, that: "I would like to ask people who think of plots harmful to Thailand to stop them. And I ask terrorists not to use Thailand as their base."

The foreign minister called his press conference yesterday after 10 foreign countries issued travel ad-visories for their citizens following the blasts. They are the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Norway, and Ireland.

Surapong meets us ambassador

Surapong said the US ambassador to Thailand, Kristie Kenney, had called him on Tuesday evening to ask for details about the blasts. The US Embassy later issued a warning advising American citizens to be careful when travelling in Thailand.

"I thank Ambassador Kenney for calling first. That allowed me an opportunity to explain the situation and the actions by the Thai authorities aimed at restoring foreigners' confidence," he said.

The foreign minister had earlier expressed his disappointment over a warning last month by the US Embassy about possible terrorist attacks in Bangkok.

-- The Nation 2012-02-16

[webfact]

Suspects meant to kill Israeli envoys, says Thai official

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The three Iranian suspects in the Bangkok blasts are an assassination squad targeting Israeli diplomats, including the ambassador, a senior Thai intelligence official said yesterday.

One of their many methods was to attach magnetic bombs to diplomats' cars, the source told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.

The source and AFP did not give details on who or which countries were behind the suspects' plan to strike against Israeli interests in Thailand.

The report corresponds well with foreign analyses pointing to an act of state-supported attack, or evidence being gathered indicating terrorism, but Thai authorities were attempting to play the incidences down both on Tuesday when they occurred and again yesterday.

An arrest warrant has been issued for an Iranian woman, Rohanni Laila, who entered Thailand on the same day as the three male suspects now in Thai and Malaysian police custody.

The Bangkok South Criminal Court has approved arrest warrants for all three male suspects following prescribed criminal procedures. They can now be placed under Interpol, if necessary.

Wichean Potephosree, secretary-general of the National Security Council, at a high-profile news conference yesterday said the attacks were not sabotage and not related to last month's arrest by Thai authorities of Lebanese man Artris Hussein, who has Swedish nationality, as a terror suspect.

The local blasts had no connection with similar attacks in India and Georgia, he said, although Israel has said they were ordered by Iran and had common links to the incident near Sukhumvit Soi 71 in Bangkok.

"The US statement did not link the incidents in India and Georgia to the ones in Thailand. It only said whenever the incidents in other countries occurred, it indicates that the attacks could still be conducted in similar fashion elsewhere," he added.

The second suspect, Mohammad Hazai, 42, was caught at Suvarnabhumi Airport late on Tuesday when he was about to board a flight to Malaysia.

The third suspect, Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, 27, managed to escape on an AirAsia flight, also on Tuesday evening, to Malaysia. However, Malaysian authorities yesterday detained the Iranian man at about 3pm in Kuala Lumpur at the request of Thai authorities. The suspect was about to leave the Malaysian capital for Tehran. He initially booked a February 25 flight for the Iranian capital.

Earlier deputy police chief Pansiri Prapawat said Sedaghatzadeh departed Bangkok for Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday afternoon.

Asked why Thai authorities were playing down the attacks and their likely links to transnational terror operations while foreign governments and media channels were indicating otherwise, Wichean did not answer, appearing grim and tense.

National Police chief Priewpan Damapong said separately that the use of explosives in Tuesday's attack was "similar to a bomb incident in India".

The three Iranian men were plotting to kill certain individuals but not to destroy any structures in Thailand, |he said, giving no sources of |information or analytical reference.

-- The Nation 2012-02-16

[webfact]

Israel says Iran terror 'exposed' in Thai, India blasts

by Hazel Ward

JERUSALEM, February 16, 2012 (AFP) - Iran's "terrorist activities" have been exposed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after blasts in India and Thailand sent tension between the arch-foes soaring.

Israel has blamed Iran for two bombs targeting its diplomats in India and Georgia on Monday, as well as for a series of botched explosions in Bangkok on Tuesday that Thai intelligence officials said were aimed at top Israeli diplomats.

Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the blasts, one of which badly wounded an Israeli woman in New Delhi.

Thailand on Wednesday charged two Iranians in connection with the Bangkok blasts, one of whom had his legs blown off when he tried to hurl a bomb at police.

"At this time, Iran's terrorist activities have been exposed to everyone," Netanyahu said, accusing Tehran of "harming innocent diplomats across the world."

"Nations of the world must condemn these incidents and draw red lines against this Iranian aggression," he warned. "Aggression like this, if it is not stopped, will end up in spreading."

Israel's security cabinet was later briefed on Iran's "involvement in repeated attempts to strike at Israeli targets" around the world, and also reviewed unspecified "preventive steps against the Iranian terror campaign," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

Army chief of staff Lieutenant General Beny Gantz said after a military ceremony that "we remain determined to face these threats. We are ready to meet all challenges."

With international concern growing over the tension between the Jewish state and the Islamic republic, Japan on Wednesday urged Israel not to take military action against Iran.

At a meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak in Tokyo, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said a military strike could be "extremely dangerous," Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

On Monday, an Israeli embassy car was blown up in New Delhi, but a similar bomb attached to another embassy car in Tbilisi was found before it detonated.

Less than 24 hours later, three blasts shook Bangkok, with police arresting two of the would-be bombers whom officials said had been planning to attack Israeli targets.

The two men were charged with causing an illegal explosion and other offences.

The injured suspect was unconscious but stable at a Bangkok hospital, while the second man was caught trying to fly out of the country.

A third Iranian was later arrested by Malaysian police in Kuala Lumpur.

A statement from Barak's office quoted him as telling Noda that he had been in Bangkok on a stopover two days before the attack there.

"On instructions from Iran over the past days a series of attacks were carried out which once again illustrate the danger from Iran and its responsibility for undermining world order," Barak said.

A senior Thai intelligence official told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the men arrested had planned to assassinate Israeli diplomats.

"These three Iranian men are an assassination team and their targets were Israeli diplomats including the ambassador," he said.

"Their plan was to attach bombs to diplomats' cars."

The violence has put a spotlight firmly on a covert war between Israel and Iran over Tehran's contested nuclear programme, with commentators suggesting it was meant to avenge the murder of four Iranian scientists whose deaths were blamed on Israel.

Despite Iran's denials of involvement, observers said the use of motorbike assassins to blow up targets' cars with magnetic bombs closely mirrored the method used to murder nuclear scientists in Iran in the past two years.

Thai police said explosives and magnets were found inside a house used by the suspects.

"We believe Tehran is behind these recent attacks because the modus operandi used in New Delhi and Tbilisi is the same as that used in the recent assassinations of Iranian scientists," said Boaz Ganor, an Israeli expert in counter terrorism at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Centre.

"That is a way of Iran putting its signature on the attacks and in that way, sending a message aimed at deterring Israel," he told AFP.

Former Mossad official Mickey Segal told AFP the attacks would definitely strengthen Israel's hand in the diplomatic offensive against Iran.

"All these things help the strategic environment which is building against Iran as a terror-supporting state," said Segal.

"Obviously if you catch a person with an Iranian passport, it greatly helps the Israeli-Western narrative against Iran."

Meanwhile, Iran on Wednesday said it had made fresh progress in advancing its disputed nuclear programme.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled what was billed as Tehran's first domestically-produced, 20-percent enriched nuclear fuel for its research reactor.

He also said Tehran had installed 3,000 more centrifuges to increase its uranium enrichment abilities.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-02-16

[webfact]

Iranian badly injured in bombing stripped of residence status

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- An Iranian man arrested in connection with Tuesday's blasts in Bangkok has been stripped of Thai residence status, Immigration Police chief Pol Lt-General Wibool Bangthamai said yesterday.

Saeib Morabi, who lost his legs in the incident, is being treated at Police General Hospital.

Police investigators visited him yesterday and, when evidence is available, will likely charge him with attempted murder, attempted murder of policemen on duty, possessing explosives and firearms without permission, and causing damage through explosions, a police source said.

A second suspect in police custody, Mohammad Hazai, 42, arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport late on Tuesday, has not been charged with any offence.

Israel's ambassador to Thailand, Yitzhak Shoham, said Morabi was connected to a terror network behind recent bombing incidents in India and Georgia, relying partly on explosives of the kind found in the rented house in Bangkok.

Israeli authorities, through a Bangkok-based mission, are seeking details of the bomb-assembly system used with the magnetic explosives found in the home rented by the three suspects, said Bangkok police chief Pol Lt-General Winai Thongsong.

Three US Embassy officials were present at the rented house in Soi Pridi Banomyong 36 off Sukhumvit 71 Road, and had 30-minute talks with Thai police personnel.

According to police sources, two improvised bombs found at the house were in the form of portable radios, stuffed with C-4 explosives. Hand grenades with the safety lever removed were inserted in the radio units to be used as the detonator.

Small metal balls were also put in the units intended as shrapnel. There were six flat round metal plates with a diameter of 2 centimetres attached beneath the radio bomb units, each weighing about 2 kilograms.

Contrary to media reports that Morabi used two hand grenades while on the run, police sources said he used two radio bomb units, out of a stock of five. One went off in the first accidental explosion in the rented house, two were used by him and two others were found in the house.

The radio bombs went off five seconds after their grenades were activated. They had a blast radius of about 40 metres and kill radius of about 3-5 metres, the sources added.

-- The Nation 2012-02-16

[jaingor]

Police investigators visited him yesterday and, when evidence is available, will likely charge him with attempted murder, attempted murder of policemen on duty, possessing explosives and firearms without permission, and causing damage through explosions, a police source said.

-- The Nation 2012-02-16

Hmm isn't having a leg blown off " available evidence" me asks

Director of Special Elite Farangs

(Anytime, Anyhow, Anywhere, we know best)

[webfact]

Malaysia to send 3rd Iranian suspect to Thai police this evening /TANN

[Steely Dan]

The Iranian spokesman also accused Israel of "trying to harm the friendly and historic relations between Iran and Thailand".

Well there are quite a few Iranians staying at the Hilton after having their bags searched.

[Unkomoncents]

"Personally, I believe the incidents in Georgia, India, and Thailand have no connection."

- Surapong

I have to say, I personally LOVE it when Thai officials start flapping their mouths after international media have already established a connection and moved on to deeper questions. The Thai government is so brazenly dishonest that it sometimes just turns into pure comedy. This is hilarious. You kinda want to just pat him on the head and give him a cookie: "Who's a good boy? WHO'S A GOOD BOY? Good boy, Suradong! Now, sit. OK, stay! Stay!" You start to wonder why they even bother to talk. Then you go to Tesco and you see exactly why this kind of thing continues.

Edited February 16, 2012 by Unkomoncents

[bendejo]

(...snip...)

Contrary to media reports that Morabi used two hand grenades while on the run, police sources said he used two radio bomb units, out of a stock of five. One went off in the first accidental explosion in the rented house, two were used by him and two others were found in the house.

The radio bombs went off five seconds after their grenades were activated. They had a blast radius of about 40 metres and kill radius of about 3-5 metres, the sources added.

(...snip...)

If not terrorism, what were the radio bombs intended for? Party favors?

[SICHONSTEVE]

They should give the bomber who lost both of his legs a memento photo showing him with his legs!!!!

[orosee]

If not terrorism, what were the radio bombs intended for? Party favors?

Isn't it clear from the news references? Assassination was the agenda, a more targeted form of conflict resolution or escalation than terrorism.

Which means most people in Thailand can now carry on with their D2D business.

What I find suspicious however: We all know that whenever, whereever something interesting happens in Bangkok, the video surveillance cameras were either broken, under repair or not installed. Now here, in a more obscure area of Bangkok, the cameras were working well enough to give extremely clear pictures of the suspects?

Something working as intended in Thailand: The seed of a conspiracy theory!

[Scott]

Off-topic comments deleted as well as replies to them.

[LPCustom69]

I wonder how many other active cells are in Thailand?

Two bomb making cells identified in the last month.

[Ulysses G.]

The Thai government is so brazenly dishonest that it sometimes just turns into pure comedy. This is hilarious. You kinda want to just pat him on the head and give him a cookie:

Denying the obvious just makes them look foolish.

[rmacdon61]

I assume that US Embassy staff, CIA, were most likely taking samples of the house blast as all C-4 is tagged (not something easy to purchase) and the tag from the blast (tagging from detonation) can be followed back and possibly lead to typing from other explosives used in other locations.

From reading research: These are added to the explosive so that the manufacturer and batch number can be determined if it is used illegally. The taggant must survive the explosion and not be contaminated by the environment afterwards. Several different technologies have been tried, but probably the most common are microscopic polymer particles.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/taggant#ixzz1mW7XBLOl

[Rainmon]

from the Nation: "Asked why Thai authorities were playing down the attacks and their likely links to transnational terror operations while foreign governments and media channels were indicating otherwise, Wichean did not answer, appearing grim and tense." <deleted>?

Wichean Potephosree is secretary-general of the Thai National Security Council

Edited February 16, 2012 by Rainmon

[prepress]

What I find suspicious however: We all know that whenever, whereever something interesting happens in Bangkok, the video surveillance cameras were either broken, under repair or not installed. Now here, in a more obscure area of Bangkok, the cameras were working well enough to give extremely clear pictures of the suspects?

Something working as intended in Thailand: The seed of a conspiracy theory!

Agree

[fire and ice]

If I was the owner of that house I'd be sendign the Irianian Embassy a bill and then suing them (in a Thai court) after they fail to pay.

[sailor59]

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast denied his country was involved in any of the cases and said Tehran condemned any "terrorist action". He told the official IRNA news agency: "The aim of the Zionist regime's claims is to overshadow the assassination of Iranian scientists."

A few years ago, this guy Ahmadinejad was speaking at an american Univercity and when was asked about public hangings of gay man from electric poles in Iran, stunned and surprised he replied: " Gays? What gays? We dont have any homosexuals in Iran", to the amusement of the students.

[diehard60]

Iranian badly injured in bombing stripped of residence status

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- An Iranian man arrested in connection with Tuesday's blasts in Bangkok has been stripped of Thai residence status, Immigration Police chief Pol Lt-General Wibool Bangthamai said yesterday.

Saeib Morabi, who lost his legs in the incident, is being treated at Police General Hospital.

Police investigators visited him yesterday and, when evidence is available, will likely charge him with attempted murder, attempted murder of policemen on duty, possessing explosives and firearms without permission, and causing damage through explosions, a police source said.

A second suspect in police custody, Mohammad Hazai, 42, arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport late on Tuesday, has not been charged with any offence.

Israel's ambassador to Thailand, Yitzhak Shoham, said Morabi was connected to a terror network behind recent bombing incidents in India and Georgia, relying partly on explosives of the kind found in the rented house in Bangkok.

Israeli authorities, through a Bangkok-based mission, are seeking details of the bomb-assembly system used with the magnetic explosives found in the home rented by the three suspects, said Bangkok police chief Pol Lt-General Winai Thongsong.

Three US Embassy officials were present at the rented house in Soi Pridi Banomyong 36 off Sukhumvit 71 Road, and had 30-minute talks with Thai police personnel.

According to police sources, two improvised bombs found at the house were in the form of portable radios, stuffed with C-4 explosives. Hand grenades with the safety lever removed were inserted in the radio units to be used as the detonator.

Small metal balls were also put in the units intended as shrapnel. There were six flat round metal plates with a diameter of 2 centimetres attached beneath the radio bomb units, each weighing about 2 kilograms.

Contrary to media reports that Morabi used two hand grenades while on the run, police sources said he used two radio bomb units, out of a stock of five. One went off in the first accidental explosion in the rented house, two were used by him and two others were found in the house.

The radio bombs went off five seconds after their grenades were activated. They had a blast radius of about 40 metres and kill radius of about 3-5 metres, the sources added.

-- The Nation 2012-02-16

Gee i have been here for 21 years and can not get Thai residency. I guess you have to be a terrorist to get it.

[Steely Dan]

Gee i have been here for 21 years and can not get Thai residency. I guess you have to be a terrorist to get it.

I can't even get a 'T1' visa.

[thaimat]

Surapong said. "Personally, I believe the incidents in Georgia, India, and Thailand have no connection."

He added, however, that: "I would like to ask people who think of plots harmful to Thailand to stop them. And I ask terrorists not to use Thailand as their base.

Personally, I cannot believe this response. On what planet would either of these statements be used response two separate groups of men from Muslim countries that are notorious for terrorist activities?

[JohnAllan]

An awful lot of people seem to be jumping the gun. With Thai politicians, it's par for the course; but the Americans should know better - but then, of course, we have the devil in Iran, an easy and obvious target, particularly where the Israelis are concerned.

Such incompetence as has been witnessed in the conduct of the bombings in India, Georgia, and here, can only be the work of an extremely amateur organisation. Or of an extremely professional one with its own separate agenda, employing amateurs. Hezbollah? Of course. Iran? Quite possibly. And then there is Israel itself . . .

A country that should have long ago been put in its place, Israel continues to be as much a menace to Middle East peace as Iran, Hezbollah, or any other country in the region. And so long as US presidential elections continue to be dictated by appeasement of the Jewish lobby, among others, nothing much is likely to change.

With the incidents over recent years directly attributable to the Israelis - ranging from bombing civilian targets, to assassinations carried out under cover of false passports [something else that seems to have conveniently found its way under the carpet] - Israel is as much a rogue nation as any other in the Middle East . . . but one that is all too well-armed, including nuclear capability; one that has, to date, managed to convince the west - at least, the US - that it's the innocent party, doing nothing more than defending its rights - whilst trampling over those of any that stand in its way; and one that is quite capable of setting events in motion that can then be blamed on another rogue nation.

[JohnAllan]

And, as if to lend credence to my observation of Israeli motives, a former Mossad official named Mickey Segal told AFP ". . . the attacks would definitely strengthen Israel's hand in the diplomatic offensive against Iran."

"All these things help the strategic environment which is building against Iran as a terror-supporting state," said Segal.

"Obviously if you catch a person with an Iranian passport, it greatly helps the Israeli-Western narrative against Iran."

Well, well . . .

[TantraMantra]

And, as if to lend credence to my observation of Israeli motives, a former Mossad official named Mickey Segal told AFP ". . . the attacks would definitely strengthen Israel's hand in the diplomatic offensive against Iran."

"All these things help the strategic environment which is building against Iran as a terror-supporting state," said Segal.

"Obviously if you catch a person with an Iranian passport, it greatly helps the Israeli-Western narrative against Iran."

Well, well . . .

Well said. Israel must be delighted that these bombings are happening.

[Steely Dan]

And, as if to lend credence to my observation of Israeli motives, a former Mossad official named Mickey Segal told AFP ". . . the attacks would definitely strengthen Israel's hand in the diplomatic offensive against Iran."

"All these things help the strategic environment which is building against Iran as a terror-supporting state," said Segal.

"Obviously if you catch a person with an Iranian passport, it greatly helps the Israeli-Western narrative against Iran."

Well, well . . .

Well by that same logic 9/11 did wonders for the Israeli-western narrative against Islamic extremism. I can't believe you tinfoil hatters haven't explored the possibility that Iran wanted the terrorists to mess up because it actually wants to be attacked in order to fulfill the Shiite messianic doomsday prophecy. But that would be just silly wouldn't it?

[TantraMantra]

And, as if to lend credence to my observation of Israeli motives, a former Mossad official named Mickey Segal told AFP ". . . the attacks would definitely strengthen Israel's hand in the diplomatic offensive against Iran."

"All these things help the strategic environment which is building against Iran as a terror-supporting state," said Segal.

"Obviously if you catch a person with an Iranian passport, it greatly helps the Israeli-Western narrative against Iran."

Well, well . . .

Well by that same logic 9/11 did wonders for the Israeli-western narrative against Islamic extremism. I can't believe you tinfoil hatters haven't explored the possibility that Iran wanted the terrorists to mess up because it actually wants to be attacked in order to fulfill the Shiite messianic doomsday prophecy. But that would be just silly wouldn't it?

Yes it would be silly. Why would Iran want to risk being bombed, nuked, or invaded by Israel and USA?

[moe666]

And, as if to lend credence to my observation of Israeli motives, a former Mossad official named Mickey Segal told AFP ". . . the attacks would definitely strengthen Israel's hand in the diplomatic offensive against Iran."

"All these things help the strategic environment which is building against Iran as a terror-supporting state," said Segal.

"Obviously if you catch a person with an Iranian passport, it greatly helps the Israeli-Western narrative against Iran."

Well, well . . .

Your saying these bombers are just impersonateing Iranians.

[HerbalEd]

"Personally, I believe the incidents in Georgia, India, and Thailand have no connection."

- Surapong

I have to say, I personally LOVE it when Thai officials start flapping their mouths after international media have already established a connection and moved on to deeper questions. The Thai government is so brazenly dishonest that it sometimes just turns into pure comedy. This is hilarious. You kinda want to just pat him on the head and give him a cookie: "Who's a good boy? WHO'S A GOOD BOY? Good boy, Suradong! Now, sit. OK, stay! Stay!" You start to wonder why they even bother to talk. Then you go to Tesco and you see exactly why this kind of thing continues.

What does Tesco have to do with it?

[TantraMantra]

And, as if to lend credence to my observation of Israeli motives, a former Mossad official named Mickey Segal told AFP ". . . the attacks would definitely strengthen Israel's hand in the diplomatic offensive against Iran."

"All these things help the strategic environment which is building against Iran as a terror-supporting state," said Segal.

"Obviously if you catch a person with an Iranian passport, it greatly helps the Israeli-Western narrative against Iran."

Well, well . . .

Your saying these bombers are just impersonateing Iranians.

They're not working for Iranian secret service. They're amateurs with their own agenda and Israeli involvement is plausible.