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| 2012 Israeli embassy attack | |
|---|---|
| Location | New Delhi, India and Tbilisi, Georgia (attempted) |
| Date | February 13, 2012 (2012-02-13) |
| Injured | 4 |
The 2012 Israeli embassy attack occurred on 13 February, 2012 after a bomb explosion on an Israeli diplomatic car in New Delhi, India wounding one embassy staff member, a local employee and two passers-by. Another bomb planted in a car in Tbilisi, Georgia failed to explode and was defused by Georgian police.
Background
Over the past several months, there has been an an escalating war of words between Israel and Iran.
Haaretz reported on 12 February that Iran had summoned the Azeri ambassador to complain against a report in The Times that Mossad had used Azerbaijan as a base for covert operations against Iran.
Incidents
India
A car bomb exploded while the wife of the defense attache to India was on her way to pick up her children from school. The woman sustained moderate injuries that required surgery to remove shrapnel while her driver and two bystanders suffered minor injuries.
Georgia
A car parked 200 metres from the embassy as discovered to have a bomb after a local driver for the embassy heard a noise while he was driving. He pulled over to side of the road and discovered a bomb underneath his car. He then alerted the Georgian police, who defused the bomb.
Investigation
Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram said that the use of RDX was ruled out (which had previously been used in other attacks in India) and that no one was accused until investigations were over. He added that those who perpetrated the attacks would be brought to "justice."
Reactions
Israel - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for both incidents. "Iran, which is behind these attacks, is the greatest exporter of terrorism in the world. The Israeli government and its security forces will continue to work together with local security services against these terrorist actions."
- The Foreign Ministry had also put its embassies on high alert for the anniversary of the killing of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, as Hezbollah had vowed to avenge the attack by attacking Israelis overseas.
Iran - Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast condemned the "terrorist" incidents; it also rejected the allegation and denied responsibility for the incidents, while blaming Israel for a false flag operation.
References
- Dan Williams (13 February 2012). "Israel blames Iran after attacks on embassy staff". Reuters. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
- Yaakov Katz (13 February 2012). "Attacks target Israeli embassies in Georgia, India". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
- ^ Herb Keinon & Gil Hoffman (13 February 2012). "Netanyahu: Iran is behind attacks on Israeli embassies". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
- http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4188985,00.html
- "Binyamin Netanyahu accuses Iran over bombs targeting Israeli diplomats". The Guardian. 2012-02-13.