Israel Jumps to Blame Iran for Amateur Explosions in Bangkok

Seemingly accidental explosions by men reported to be carrying Iranian passports appears unlikely to be terrorism at all

Israel’s defense minister blamed Iran for a series of seemingly unwitting amateur explosions in the Thai capital of Bangkok on Tuesday, one day after attacks against the Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia.

“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 Defense Minister Ehud Barak. “Iran and Hezbollah are unrelenting terror elements endangering the stability of the region, and endangering the stability of the world.”

The New York Times reported that three men “fled a house in the Sukhumvit neighborhood of Bangkok after an explosion in the early afternoon destroyed the house’s roof. One escaped and another was detained at the city’s main international airport. Witnesses said the third, bleeding and seemingly disoriented, lobbed two explosive devices at a taxi and approaching police officers, and one of the blasts severed his legs and wounded several Thais.”

The Thai government said at least two of these three men were caught carrying Iranian passports. But Barak’s statement illustrates Israel’s frenzied eagerness to paint Iran as a global terrorist menace, since the Thai intelligence agencies don’t think the incident was an act of terror, especially since it seems more like three idiots playing with explosives and blowing themselves up.

Furthermore, what possible interest the Iranian government has in blowing up a rented cottage and a taxi in Bangkok, Thailand has escaped the Iranian version of events.

The Times reported, the men, even if they are truly Iranian, could be “simply arms smugglers, drug traffickers or gangsters in a city known as a hub of illicit activity.” But Israeli officials are apparently happy to grasp at straws to bolster propaganda against Iran.

Two attempts to assassinate Israeli diplomats failed on Monday in India and Georgia, which also prompted Israel to accuse Iran for being behind the attacks, despite Iranian denials of involvement.

The attacks came just days after NBC News broke a story in which an unnamed U.S. official revealed that Israel funded, trained, and armed the Iranian terrorist dissident group Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK) in carrying out assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists. That Israel would have the temerity to condemn acts of covert terrorism is hypocritical.

Author: John Glaser

John Glaser writes for Antiwar.com.