By THANYARAT DOKSONE and TODD PITMAN
Associated Press
BANGKOK — Israel accused Iran of waging a covert campaign of state terror that stretched this week from the Middle East to the heart of Asia after a bungled series of explosions led to the capture of two Iranian nationals in Bangkok.
Authorities in Israel ratcheted up security at home and abroad following Tuesday’s explosions in the Thai capital, escalating a confrontation over Iran’s suspect nuclear program and raising fears of war.
On Monday, an Israeli diplomat’s wife and driver were wounded in New Delhi when a bomb stuck to their minivan exploded, and another device was defused on an Israeli Embassy car in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Israel has threatened military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and Iran has blamed the Jewish state for the recent killings of Iranian atomic scientists.
Iran denied responsibility for the New Delhi and Georgia attacks, which appeared to mirror the killings of the Iranian scientists that used “sticky bombs.”
Four Thai civilians were wounded in Bangkok after a cache of explosives ignited at a house, apparently by mistake.
One explosion blew off the leg of an Iranian who had fled, carrying what looked like grenades.
When police searched the Iranians’ home, the bomb squad found and defused two explosives, each made of three or four pounds of C-4 explosives inside a pair of radios. National Police Chief Gen. Prewpan Damapong said the bombs were “magnetic” and could be stuck on vehicles.
The wounded Iranian was in police custody at a Bangkok hospital. Immigration police detained a second Iranian as he tried to board a flight for Malaysia.
Both men were facing four charges including possession of explosives, attempted murder, attempted murder of a policeman and causing explosions that damaged property, Prewpan said.
Israel’s Channel 10 TV quoted unidentified Thai authorities as saying the captured Iranians confessed to targeting Israeli interests.
The site of the blast is more than three miles away from the Israeli Embassy.
There was no comment from Iranian officials in Tehran on Tuesday’s series of explosions in Thailand.
