Israel blames Hezbollah and Iran for attacks on diplomats. Is it right? (+video)

[Jefferson23]

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that has carried out attacks as far afield as Argentina before, is certainly a prime suspect in today's attacks in India and Georgia.

By Dan Murphy, Staff writer / February 13, 2012

Two attempts to assassinate Israeli diplomats failed in India and Georgia today – the wife of Israel's military attaché in Delhi was slightly injured by a bomb attached to her car, while the bomb on an Israeli diplomat's car in Tbilisi was detected before any harm was done.

A coincidence – two isolated swipes at Israel – seems highly unlikely. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately blamed both Iran and Hezbollah for the attack. That's plausible, but it's impossible to know anything for certain in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.

snip* So either Iran or Hezbollah, or both, are reasonable objects of suspicion in today's attacks. But it's hardly a secret that Israel is unpopular with a range of militant groups, many of them deeply hostile to Shiite Iran and Hezbollah. And no evidence has been provided to support the assertion.

The obvious backdrop to all this is the growing push for a war with Iran over its nuclear program, and you can take it to the bank that these two attacks will be used in the coming days to bolster arguments that Iran is an implacable foe that can't be reasoned with, and steps stronger than sanctions will be needed to dissuade them from their nuclear ambitions.

in full: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2012/0213/Israel-blames-Hezbollah-and-Iran-for-attacks-on-diplomats.-Is-it-right-video


in full:

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Has Nasrallah claimed responsibility? Has Iran?

This is almost as irresponsible as Iran claiming Israel blew up their own diplomat's wife. Not as, but close.

[bemildred]

2. I read somewhere about a foiled bombing in Baku too.

But now I cannot find it.

I don't see why Iran would need to use Hezbollah for this, or why Hezbollah would want to do it. They are on shaky ground already with the mess in Syria.

[Jefferson23]

3. Is this the story you were thinking of?

Foiled terror attack in Baku targeted two Israelis: paper

The terror acts recently foiled in the Azerbaijani capital Baku targeted two Israelis employed by a Jewish school in Baku, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Azerbaijan’s National Security Ministry said in a statement last Thursday that the law enforcers had seized two Azerbaijani nationals - Rasim Aliyev and Ali Huseynov, who planned attacks on foreign public figures in Baku. The crimes were ordered by Balagardash Dadashov, a resident of the Iranian city of Ardabil, who is wanted over such grave crimes as banditry and kidnappings, the ministry said. It also said firearms and explosives were brought to Azerbaijan from neighboring Iran bypass customs agencies to stage the terror attacks.

Haaretz claimed that the intended victims were two Israeli Chabad emissaries, a rabbi and a teacher employed by the Chabad Or Avner Jewish school in Baku. It said the killings were apparently planned as retaliation to the gunning down of Iranian nuclear scientists.

“The Azeri security forces acted covertly without alerting us,” claimed Rabbi Shneor Segal, one of the two targets. "It was published that they originally planned to attack 'people who look Jewish and hold foreign passports,' near the school, but when the school guards began suspecting them, they started monitoring the area where I live," he told Haaretz.

http://www.azernews.az/en/Nation/40557-Foiled_terror_attack_in_Baku_targeted_two_Israelis:_paper%27

[bemildred]

5. Yeah, that's it.

Nasrallah has said Hezbollah would not fire on Israel if it attacks Iran, which I found an interesting statement.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/02/nasrallah-iran-aid-syria-lebanon-shiite-sunni-assad-khamenei-islam-hezbollah.html

[Jefferson23]

6. Thanks, and yea, it is interesting..all considered. n/t

[Jefferson23]

4. U.S. condemns Thailand terror attack, hints at Iran 'fingerprints'

State Department spokeswoman stops short of blaming Iran directly for Tuesday's botched attack in Bangkok, but says it comes on heels of other 'Iranian-linked' attacks.

By Barak Ravid, Natasha Mozgovaya and Reuters

The U.S. condemned the botched terror attack in Thailand's capital on Tuesday, suggesting it may be linked to Iran.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S.was awaiting the results of investigations, and did not blame Iran directly. However, 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.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-condemns-thailand-terror-attack-hints-at-iran-fingerprints-1.412892