Several Iranian agents who scouted out the Israeli, American, and
Emirati embassies in an unnamed East African country in preparation for a
potential attack have been arrested, according to a Monday Israeli TV
report.
The agents were sent by Iran to gather intelligence on the sites
for a terror attack, Kan News reported, citing Western intelligence
sources.
Some held dual European and Iranian citizenship, and some were
arrested in the East African country, while others were apprehended in
different countries. The attack was thwarted last month, according to
the report.
The report said Iran intended to target one of the missions in
retaliation for the killing of its top general Qassem Soleimani by the
US last year and of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in
November. Iran blamed Israel for Fakhrizadeh’s killing and swore
revenge.
On Friday, a blast rocked the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, India. The explosion damaged cars but did not cause injuries.
Israeli authorities are treating the explosion as a suspected
terror attack aimed at the embassy, and have stepped up security
precautions at missions around the world.
Police cordon off an area near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi on January 29, 2021. (Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP)
Israeli missions had already been on alert in the wake of Fakhrizadeh’s assassination.
A handwritten note found at the scene of the bombing claimed
responsibility for a previously unknown group identifying itself as
“India Hezbollah.” It cited the killings Soleimani and Fakhrizadeh,
according to Indian media reports on Saturday.
Unconfirmed Indian media reports Saturday claimed police had detained and questioned some Iranian nationals in New Delhi.
A police statement described the Friday explosion as caused by a
“very low-intensity improvised device” that blew out the windows on
three nearby cars and said a preliminary investigation “suggests a
mischievous attempt to create a sensation.”
In 2012, the wife of Israel’s defense attaché to India was
moderately injured after a motorcyclist attached a bomb to her car near
Israel’s New Delhi embassy. Iran was suspected in the attack.
It was part of a series of attempted attacks against Israeli targets
around the world attributed to Iran. The same day as the 2012 New Delhi
blast, a bomb was discovered on an Israeli diplomat’s car in the former
Soviet republic of Georgia. The next day, three Iranians accidentally
blew up their house in Thailand.
There was speculation that those incidents were in response to
Israel’s alleged assassinations of multiple Iranian nuclear scientists
as Jerusalem fought to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.
In September, the Politico news site reported that Iran was plotting
to assassinate the US ambassador to South Africa for the killing of
Soleimani. Iran dismissed the allegation.
Iran already retaliated for Soleimani’s killing in January, firing
missiles at a US base in Iraq, to which the US did not respond.
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