The three bombs that exploded in a busy Bangkok street Tuesday were intended for “foreign nationals” in Thailand, according to national police chief Priewpan Damapong. The blasts injured five people including a bombing suspect carrying an Iranian passport who blew off his own legs. Another Iranian suspect was arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport hours after the incident as he was about to leave for Malaysia. He is one of three suspects thought to be involved.
Thai TV news reports said the Iranian, carrying a black bag, first threw a bomb at a taxi after its driver refused to take him as a passenger. When police got to the scene, some reports said, he threw a second bomb that hit a tree and bounced back at him, blowing off both his legs. Other eyewitness accounts said he dropped the device. There are also unconfirmed reports that the house where the man was living may be storing further explosives.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was awaiting the results of investigations, and did not blame Iran directly. 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.
Thai police have not yet divulged motives for the blasts, but the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, directly accused Iran of exporting terror around the world. “The attempted terror attack in Thailand proves once again that Iran and its proxies continue to operate in the ways of terror and the latest attacks are an example of that,” said Barak.
He said Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah were “unrelenting terror elements endangering the stability of the region and endangering the stability of the world.”
