Iran envoy blames Israel for Bangkok bombings

Iranian Ambassador to Thailand Majid Bizmark claimed that the bombings in Bangkok on February 14 were organized by “Zionist regime”, Israel, as a provocation against the image of Iran and the Iranian-Thai relations, local daily The Nation reported on Saturday. “If we follow the issue closely and wisely, we'll find out who is behind the scenario … There are some things I cannot say, but as I mentioned, in this scenario, the first suspect is Zionists,” Bizmark said in an interview to the paper. He said that Iran strongly condemns the actions of those responsible for the bombings. He also added that the Iranian embassy has deep doubts that those suspects, arrested by Thai and the Malaysian authorities, are indeed citizens of Iran, despite the fact that, according to the immigration police, they moved to Thailand with Iranian passports. "We don't know who they are … they could be anybody," he said. A blast occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the east of Bangkok in one of the two-storey residential building. Three Iranian citizen, who rented the house, tried to escape after the incident. Thai authorities said they were holding two Iranian suspects, Mohammad Hazaei, who was arrested on Tuesday at Bangkok’s International Airport as he tried to take a plane to Malaysia and Saeid Moradi, whose legs were blown off by his own bomb. Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, 31, was arrested on Wednesday by Malaysian authorities. Extradition proceedings began in his attitude. A fourth Iranian, a woman is suspected of renting the house where the first device exploded. The investigation revealed that the woman was able to leave the country before February 14 and has already returned to Iran. Thai police declared on Friday that they were looking for one more suspect in the case, who also entered Thailand on the Iranian passport. According to investigators, 52-year-old suspect was teaching the younger members of the group how to treat plastic explosives. “You can see this kind of scenario taking place in different countries some months ago, like a chain … one after another. And it shows who is behind this scenario, which is dangerous for the stability and peace in the region,” Bizmark said. “All these incidents or scenarios were prepared and directed by elements of the Zionist regime. They started this chain by sending fabricated news all around the world. They are the first suspects,” he added. Israel and Iran continue to blame each other over attacks in Bangkok, New Delhi and Georgia with Israel blames Tehran for the attacks. But Iran has denied the accusation and said that Israeli agents are often the perpetrators of such terrorist acts.