Israel Blames Bangkok Explosions on Iranian Terrorism, Vows to 'Settle the Score'

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Update (12:14 p.m. EST): Israel starts its saber rattling: Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch didn't mention Iran by name in his comments on state radio Tuesday, but he threatened revenge for the Bangkok attack, according to CBS: "We know who carried out the terror attacks, we know who sent them, and Israel will settle the score with them."

Update (9:27 a.m. EST): Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak accused Iran of being behind the bombing, saying the incident "proves once again that Iran and its proxies continue to perpetrate terror," according to the Associated Press.

Update (8:28 a.m. EST): The Associated Press has a few more details about the incident, confirming via the Thai authorities that the man was an Iranian named Saeid Moradi, and that a second Iranian man has been arrested at the Bangkok airport apparently on his way to Malaysia -- though the second man's involvement in the blasts hasn't been confirmed. The latest report says a cache of explosives went off in Moradi's house, after which he and two other foreigners tried to escape. When a taxi wouldn't pick up the blood-soaked Moradi, "He then threw an explosive at the taxi and began running," the AP reports. When police came, he tried to throw a grenade at them, but it reportedly bounced back and blew off his legs.

Original: A man in Thailand, possibly an Iranian, is believed to have maimed himself after explosives that he was carrying went off, injuring both his legs. According to the Bangkok Post, witnesses reported seeing a man hurl a bomb in downtown Bangkok and then run off. When police tried to arrest him, he attempted to throw another bomb, which went off too soon, blowing one of his legs off and severely injuring the other. Police say that a second explosion also went off at the man's house in central Bangkok.

Two pictures posted on Twitter show a wounded man who appears to be missing the lower half of his legs. (Be warned that the pictures are graphic.)

According to various reports, the man in question is believed to be Iranian, which naturally leads to speculation that today's incident may be related to yesterday's attacks on Israeli targets in India and Georgia. (The man's identity has not been confirmed, however, and no formal connection has been proven.) Israel has publicly accused the Iranians of being responsible for the attacks, while Iran blames Israel for similar bombings that have targeted their nuclear scientists. If both countries are now carrying on their covert war across the globe, that doesn't bode well for diplomatic efforts to end the standoff peacefully, before one of them (probably Israel) decides to make the war less covert and launch an attack on the other.

Last month, a Lebanese man was arrested in Thailand after a large amount of explosives was discovered in his home. The arrested prompted the United States to issue travel warnings about possible terrorist attacks in and around popular tourist destinations in Thailand. Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, has also been accused by Israel of helping to orchestrate the this week's attacks.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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