NEW DELHI - Three Iranians have been named by Indian police as suspects in an attack on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi, the first time Tehran has been firmly linked to the bombing, reports said Thursday.
The men entered the country on tourist visas and left after the bombing in the centre of the Indian capital on February 13 that badly wounded a female worker at the Israeli embassy, The Times of India and The Indian Express reported.
“They had entered the country during different times and did not leave together,” an unnamed security source told the Indian Express. “We have their travel details.”The reports, based on anonymous police and intelligence agency sources, said police had asked a local court for warrants for the men and their names would be given to the Iranian government.
Last week, a veteran Indian freelance journalist who worked part-time for Iran’s news agency IRNA became the first person arrested in connection with the attack.
He is accused of providing logistical support for the plotters and a bike used for reconnaissance of the embassy was allegedly found at his house in an upmarket area of the Indian capital.
In the attack, a hitman on a rented motorbike attached a magnetic bomb to the back of an Israeli embassy car carrying the 42-year-old diplomat as she went to pick up her children from school.
The woman, also the wife of the defence attache at the embassy, was left in a critical condition with spinal injuries and has since been flown to Israel for further treatment.
Israel immediately accused Iran of being behind the bombing which came on the same day as another attempted attack on an Israeli embassy car in Georgia. A day later, Thai police arrested two Iranian men in Bangkok who are suspected of planning a separate attack on Israeli diplomats.
Tehran has denied any involvement in the alleged plots.
The method used for the attack — a magnetic car bomb — closely mirrored the technique used to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists over the last two years which Tehran has blamed on the Israeli and US secret services.
News of an apparent Iran link comes at a delicate moment for India as it pushes for greater trade with the Islamic republic while trying to balance a key relationship with arms supplier Israel. A team of Indian businessmen and government officials began a five-day trade trip to Iran at the weekend aimed at expanding business opportunities, a move that runs contrary to European and US-led efforts to isolate Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.
India has refused to go along with unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington and Brussels.
The newspaper reports said the three suspects came to New Delhi about two weeks before the attack and stayed in a hotel in a backpacker area of the capital.