Iranians in Thailand accused of targeting Israeli diplomats

From The Bangkok Post:

Thai authorities charged two Iranians on Wednesday over an alleged bomb plot against Israeli diplomats, officials said, piling pressure on Teheran over accusations of a terror campaign against the Jewish state.

Authorities said they had laid criminal charges against two Iranian suspects accused of involvement in the three blasts in central Bangkok yesterday.

"These three Iranian men are an assassination team and their targets were Israeli diplomats including the ambassador," a senior Thai intelligence official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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

Explosives and magnets were later found inside the partially destroyed house where the first explosion occurred, police said.

From The Telegraph:

Thai investigators believe they have found a link between this week's bomb blasts in Bangkok and New Delhi, a senior security official said on Wednesday, two of three botched attacks Israel has blamed on Iran.

Asked whether the explosives used in India and Thailand were the same, a senior Thai security official said they both had the same "magnetic sheets".

"The individual was in possession of the same magnets and we are currently examining the source of the magnet," National Security Council Secretary Wichian Podphosri said.

AP adds:

When police searched the house, 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.

"From the investigation, we found the type of explosives indicated that the prepared targets were individuals," Wichean said. "Based on the equipment and materials we found, they were aimed at individuals and the destruction capacity was not intended for large crowds or big buildings."

Israel's Channel 10 TV quoted unidentified Thai authorities as saying the captured Iranians confessed to targeting Israeli interests.

And here's an interesting detail from the Telegraph story:

Two other men shared the rented house with him. One was arrested at Bangkok's international airport on Tuesday but he has not yet been charged. A third man slipped past security at the airport and had fled to Malaysia.

Earlier this week, the Malaysian Home Minister defended his country deporting a suspected Saudi "apostate" tweeter back to the kingdom by saying, "I will not allow Malaysia to be seen as a safe country for terrorists and those who are wanted by their countries of origin, and also be seen as a transit county."

Will Malaysia provide safe haven for this Iranian terrorist?

(h/t Yoel)