• Latest
  • Trending

Trump says Gen. Soleimani had directed a terror attack in Delhi also. Iranian envoy denies

January 4, 2020
Sri Lanka approves emergency use of Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine. Image credits - Newswire

Sri Lanka approves emergency use of Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine

January 22, 2021
“De-Fi”, Finance redefined

“De-Fi”, Finance redefined

January 22, 2021
Ukrainians cancel visit to SL over PCR concerns. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

Ukrainians cancel visit to Sri Lanka over PCR concerns

January 22, 2021
Kamala Harris’ village in Tamil Nadu celebrates  inauguration

Kamala Harris’ village in Tamil Nadu celebrates inauguration

January 22, 2021
FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Google logo is seen in this illustration taken April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Google says it will shut search engine in Australia if forced to pay for news

January 22, 2021
A medical staff member receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the CHIREC Delta Hospital in Brussels, Belgium January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

European Union to tighten travel curbs for virus hot spots as COVID-19 third wave fears mount

January 22, 2021
FILE PHOTO: People gather in the viewpoint in Leblon Beach, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 31, 2020. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares/File Photo

Brazil recorded a record number of divorces during the second half of 2020

January 22, 2021
India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

India to donate COVID-19 vaccines for Sri Lanka front line workers

January 22, 2021
Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

January 21, 2021
© Bang Showbiz Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Priyanka Chopra Jonas hints at shock role in The Matrix 4

January 21, 2021
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - JANUARY 21: Security forces stand guard at the explosion site after a suicide bombing attack in Baghdad, Iraq on January 21, 2021. (Photo by Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Rare twin suicide attack kills at least 28 in Baghdad

January 21, 2021
A smoke rises from fire at Serum Institute of India in Pune, India January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

Fire at India’s Serum Institute kills 5, AstraZeneca vaccine output unaffected

January 21, 2021
  • About Us
  • Advertisements
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
Friday, January 22, 2021
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
NewsIn.Asia
  • Home
  • Around South Asia
    • All
    • Afghanistan
    • Bangladesh
    • Bhutan
    • China
    • India
    • Maldives
    • Myanmar
    • Nepal
    • Pakistan
    • Sri Lanka
    Sri Lanka approves emergency use of Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine. Image credits - Newswire

    Sri Lanka approves emergency use of Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine

    Ukrainians cancel visit to SL over PCR concerns. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Ukrainians cancel visit to Sri Lanka over PCR concerns

    Kamala Harris’ village in Tamil Nadu celebrates  inauguration

    Kamala Harris’ village in Tamil Nadu celebrates inauguration

    India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

    India to donate COVID-19 vaccines for Sri Lanka front line workers

    Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

    Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

    A smoke rises from fire at Serum Institute of India in Pune, India January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

    Fire at India’s Serum Institute kills 5, AstraZeneca vaccine output unaffected

    A healthcare worker reacts as she receives a dose of AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination campaign at a medical centre in Mumbai, India, January 19, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

    South Africa to pay $5.25 a dose for AstraZeneca vaccine from India’s SII

    Sri Lanka airports officially open for tourists. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Airports in Sri Lanka officially open for tourists

    © Provided by News18 - IPL 2021 Player retention: Mumbai Indians released Lasith Malinga as pacer wanted to retire

    IPL 2021 Player Retention: Mumbai Indians Released Lasith Malinga as Pacer Wanted to Retire

  • World
    • All
    • Japan
    • Russia
    • United States
    Ukrainians cancel visit to SL over PCR concerns. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Ukrainians cancel visit to Sri Lanka over PCR concerns

    FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Google logo is seen in this illustration taken April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

    Google says it will shut search engine in Australia if forced to pay for news

    A medical staff member receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the CHIREC Delta Hospital in Brussels, Belgium January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

    European Union to tighten travel curbs for virus hot spots as COVID-19 third wave fears mount

    FILE PHOTO: People gather in the viewpoint in Leblon Beach, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 31, 2020. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares/File Photo

    Brazil recorded a record number of divorces during the second half of 2020

    Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

    Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

    BAGHDAD, IRAQ - JANUARY 21: Security forces stand guard at the explosion site after a suicide bombing attack in Baghdad, Iraq on January 21, 2021. (Photo by Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

    Rare twin suicide attack kills at least 28 in Baghdad

    Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer on Epiphany, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the Vatican, January 6, 2021. Vatican Media/­Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

    Pope, due to visit Iraq in March, condemns Baghdad attack

    Full text  of  President Joe Biden’s inaugural address

    Full text of President Joe Biden’s inaugural address

    FILE PHOTO: Alibaba Group co-founder and executive chairman Jack Ma attends an event at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China September 20, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

    Jack Ma’s reappearance fails to soothe all investor concerns

  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Series
    © Bang Showbiz Priyanka Chopra Jonas

    Priyanka Chopra Jonas hints at shock role in The Matrix 4

    © Bang Showbiz Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas

    Priyanka Chopra wants Hollywood to embrace Asian stories

    Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) enjoy their own show on Disney Plus. Image credits - Marvel Studios

    WandaVision first reactions are in: A ‘tantalizing experiment’ for Marvel

    Photo Feature: Galle Face promenade comes to life at dusk

    Photo Feature: Galle Face promenade comes to life at dusk

    ‘The ability to sell an unfashionably uncynical heroine in an age of moral torpor’: Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Photograph: Clay Enos/AP

    Wonder Woman 1984 review – the superheroine 2020 needs

    Image: InnerSloth

    Nearly half a billion users played Among Us in November

    Image: CD Projekt Red

    Cyberpunk 2077 has sold more than 13 million copies, despite launch disaster and refunds

    © Sujit Jaiswal Bollywood actress Shriya Saran (C) and dancers perform for a music video in Mumbai in February. Pandemic restrictions have forbidden producers from shooting the elaborate musical sequences that are a hallmark of Hindi movies

    After a catastrophic year, Bollywood hopes for a 2021 comeback

    PHIs urge immediate border restriction for all 9 provinces in Sri Lanka

    PHIs urge immediate border restriction for all 9 provinces in Sri Lanka

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Science
    • Travel
    Ukrainians cancel visit to SL over PCR concerns. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Ukrainians cancel visit to Sri Lanka over PCR concerns

    FILE PHOTO: People gather in the viewpoint in Leblon Beach, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 31, 2020. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares/File Photo

    Brazil recorded a record number of divorces during the second half of 2020

    Sri Lanka airports officially open for tourists. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Airports in Sri Lanka officially open for tourists

    FILE PHOTO: An IndiGo Airlines Airbus A320 aircraft takes off in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

    IndiGo tightens grip in India and targets growth abroad

    India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

    India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

    FILE PHOTO: NASA's Space Launch System mobile launcher stands atop Launch Pad 39B for months of testing before it will launch the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft on mission Artemis 1 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2019. REUTERS/Thom Baur/File Photo

    NASA’s Boeing moon rocket cuts short ‘once-in-a-generation’ ground test

    India begins first phase of vaccination to cover 30 million people

    India begins first phase of vaccination to cover 30 million people

    Without Right Messaging, Masks Could Lead To More COVID-19 Spread. Image credits - Eurasia Review

    Without Right Messaging, Masks Could Lead To More COVID-19 Spread

    A chef prepares a sandwich with a marijuana leaf at Abhaibhubejhr hospital canteen which adds cannabis infused dishes to its menu after cannabis leaves, stems, stalks and roots were officially removed from Thailand's narcotics list, allowing basically any part of the plant except for the buds to be used for consumption in Prachin Buri province, outside Bangkok, Thailand January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

    Thailand serves up cannabis cuisine to happy customers

    What’s in a name?

    What’s in a name?

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
  • Tech
    “De-Fi”, Finance redefined

    “De-Fi”, Finance redefined

    FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Google logo is seen in this illustration taken April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

    Google says it will shut search engine in Australia if forced to pay for news

    Rege-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor are seen in an undated handout still from the Netflix series "Bridgerton". Netflix/Handout via REUTERS

    Netflix forecasts an end to borrowing binge, shares surge

    Turkish messaging app booms in Bangladesh

    Turkish messaging app booms in Bangladesh

    James Howells mined bitcoin for four years. BBC News

    Man who threw hard drive with 7,500 bitcoin offers $70 million to dig it from the city dump

    FILE PHOTO: The Whatsapp logo and binary cyber codes are seen in this illustration taken November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

    WhatsApp to delay launch of update business features after privacy backlash

    Trending Tags

    • Sillicon Valley
    • Climate Change
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
    • Golden Globes
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Mr. Robot
  • Coronavirus
  • Home
  • Around South Asia
    • All
    • Afghanistan
    • Bangladesh
    • Bhutan
    • China
    • India
    • Maldives
    • Myanmar
    • Nepal
    • Pakistan
    • Sri Lanka
    Sri Lanka approves emergency use of Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine. Image credits - Newswire

    Sri Lanka approves emergency use of Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine

    Ukrainians cancel visit to SL over PCR concerns. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Ukrainians cancel visit to Sri Lanka over PCR concerns

    Kamala Harris’ village in Tamil Nadu celebrates  inauguration

    Kamala Harris’ village in Tamil Nadu celebrates inauguration

    India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

    India to donate COVID-19 vaccines for Sri Lanka front line workers

    Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

    Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

    A smoke rises from fire at Serum Institute of India in Pune, India January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

    Fire at India’s Serum Institute kills 5, AstraZeneca vaccine output unaffected

    A healthcare worker reacts as she receives a dose of AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination campaign at a medical centre in Mumbai, India, January 19, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

    South Africa to pay $5.25 a dose for AstraZeneca vaccine from India’s SII

    Sri Lanka airports officially open for tourists. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Airports in Sri Lanka officially open for tourists

    © Provided by News18 - IPL 2021 Player retention: Mumbai Indians released Lasith Malinga as pacer wanted to retire

    IPL 2021 Player Retention: Mumbai Indians Released Lasith Malinga as Pacer Wanted to Retire

  • World
    • All
    • Japan
    • Russia
    • United States
    Ukrainians cancel visit to SL over PCR concerns. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Ukrainians cancel visit to Sri Lanka over PCR concerns

    FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Google logo is seen in this illustration taken April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

    Google says it will shut search engine in Australia if forced to pay for news

    A medical staff member receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the CHIREC Delta Hospital in Brussels, Belgium January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

    European Union to tighten travel curbs for virus hot spots as COVID-19 third wave fears mount

    FILE PHOTO: People gather in the viewpoint in Leblon Beach, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 31, 2020. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares/File Photo

    Brazil recorded a record number of divorces during the second half of 2020

    Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

    Fire kills five in Indian COVID-19 vaccine institute

    BAGHDAD, IRAQ - JANUARY 21: Security forces stand guard at the explosion site after a suicide bombing attack in Baghdad, Iraq on January 21, 2021. (Photo by Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

    Rare twin suicide attack kills at least 28 in Baghdad

    Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer on Epiphany, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the Vatican, January 6, 2021. Vatican Media/­Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

    Pope, due to visit Iraq in March, condemns Baghdad attack

    Full text  of  President Joe Biden’s inaugural address

    Full text of President Joe Biden’s inaugural address

    FILE PHOTO: Alibaba Group co-founder and executive chairman Jack Ma attends an event at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China September 20, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

    Jack Ma’s reappearance fails to soothe all investor concerns

  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Series
    © Bang Showbiz Priyanka Chopra Jonas

    Priyanka Chopra Jonas hints at shock role in The Matrix 4

    © Bang Showbiz Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas

    Priyanka Chopra wants Hollywood to embrace Asian stories

    Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) enjoy their own show on Disney Plus. Image credits - Marvel Studios

    WandaVision first reactions are in: A ‘tantalizing experiment’ for Marvel

    Photo Feature: Galle Face promenade comes to life at dusk

    Photo Feature: Galle Face promenade comes to life at dusk

    ‘The ability to sell an unfashionably uncynical heroine in an age of moral torpor’: Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Photograph: Clay Enos/AP

    Wonder Woman 1984 review – the superheroine 2020 needs

    Image: InnerSloth

    Nearly half a billion users played Among Us in November

    Image: CD Projekt Red

    Cyberpunk 2077 has sold more than 13 million copies, despite launch disaster and refunds

    © Sujit Jaiswal Bollywood actress Shriya Saran (C) and dancers perform for a music video in Mumbai in February. Pandemic restrictions have forbidden producers from shooting the elaborate musical sequences that are a hallmark of Hindi movies

    After a catastrophic year, Bollywood hopes for a 2021 comeback

    PHIs urge immediate border restriction for all 9 provinces in Sri Lanka

    PHIs urge immediate border restriction for all 9 provinces in Sri Lanka

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Science
    • Travel
    Ukrainians cancel visit to SL over PCR concerns. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Ukrainians cancel visit to Sri Lanka over PCR concerns

    FILE PHOTO: People gather in the viewpoint in Leblon Beach, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 31, 2020. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares/File Photo

    Brazil recorded a record number of divorces during the second half of 2020

    Sri Lanka airports officially open for tourists. Image credits - Anadolu Agency

    Airports in Sri Lanka officially open for tourists

    FILE PHOTO: An IndiGo Airlines Airbus A320 aircraft takes off in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

    IndiGo tightens grip in India and targets growth abroad

    India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

    India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

    FILE PHOTO: NASA's Space Launch System mobile launcher stands atop Launch Pad 39B for months of testing before it will launch the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft on mission Artemis 1 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2019. REUTERS/Thom Baur/File Photo

    NASA’s Boeing moon rocket cuts short ‘once-in-a-generation’ ground test

    India begins first phase of vaccination to cover 30 million people

    India begins first phase of vaccination to cover 30 million people

    Without Right Messaging, Masks Could Lead To More COVID-19 Spread. Image credits - Eurasia Review

    Without Right Messaging, Masks Could Lead To More COVID-19 Spread

    A chef prepares a sandwich with a marijuana leaf at Abhaibhubejhr hospital canteen which adds cannabis infused dishes to its menu after cannabis leaves, stems, stalks and roots were officially removed from Thailand's narcotics list, allowing basically any part of the plant except for the buds to be used for consumption in Prachin Buri province, outside Bangkok, Thailand January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

    Thailand serves up cannabis cuisine to happy customers

    What’s in a name?

    What’s in a name?

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
  • Tech
    “De-Fi”, Finance redefined

    “De-Fi”, Finance redefined

    FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Google logo is seen in this illustration taken April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

    Google says it will shut search engine in Australia if forced to pay for news

    Rege-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor are seen in an undated handout still from the Netflix series "Bridgerton". Netflix/Handout via REUTERS

    Netflix forecasts an end to borrowing binge, shares surge

    Turkish messaging app booms in Bangladesh

    Turkish messaging app booms in Bangladesh

    James Howells mined bitcoin for four years. BBC News

    Man who threw hard drive with 7,500 bitcoin offers $70 million to dig it from the city dump

    FILE PHOTO: The Whatsapp logo and binary cyber codes are seen in this illustration taken November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

    WhatsApp to delay launch of update business features after privacy backlash

    Trending Tags

    • Sillicon Valley
    • Climate Change
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
    • Golden Globes
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Mr. Robot
  • Coronavirus
No Result
View All Result
NewsIn.Asia
No Result
View All Result
Home Around South Asia India

Trump says Gen. Soleimani had directed a terror attack in Delhi also. Iranian envoy denies

Editor by Editor
January 4, 2020
in India, Terrorism, Top Story, United States
Reading Time: 8min read
1 0
Share on WhatsApp

New Delhi, January 4 (The Hindu/Al Jazeera ): India got caught in the crossfire between the United States and Iran after President Donald Trump blamed assassinated Iranian General Qasem  Soleimani for a spate of terror attacks, including one in Delhi, a charge Iran’s envoy to India has denied.

In a statement in Washington, Mr. Trump justified the killing of Mr. Soleimani in a missile attack on his convoy outside the Baghdad airport, saying that the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) international operations or “Quds force” was responsible for several terror attacks and was planning more.

“Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far away as New Delhi and London,” Mr. Trump said.

Iran’s Ambassador to India Ali Chegeni denied the allegations. “Mr. Trump can say anything he likes, he can give any list of attacks that he likes. But this is a big lie. General Soleimani was a soldier, he was not involved in the targetting of innocents anywhere,” Mr. Chegeni said in an interview to The Hindu.

The Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s statement, which brought New Delhi into the rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Mr. Trump is believed to have referred to the car bombing of an Israeli diplomat in Delhi in February 2012. The diplomat, who was also the wife of the Israeli defence attaché, was injured in the attack along with three others. At the time, the Delhi Police’s special cell that investigated the case believed it was connected with attacks on Israeli diplomats in Tbilisi, Georgia as well as Bangkok, Thailand, and was reportedly carried out by IRGC agents at the time in retaliation for attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists. Delhi Police officials say the case has not moved since 2013, when the lone suspect, an Indian journalist with an Iranian news agency, was granted bail, a decision that was upheld in the Supreme Court.

Mr. Chegeni said that by raising the issue, Mr. Trump was attempting to cover the U.S.’s action in killing the Iranian official while he was visiting Iraq after travelling to Syria for “anti-terrorism consultations”.

“Gen Soleimani fought against the ISIS, Jubhat Al Nusra, Al-Qaeda. He was invited to Syria and Iraq by their governments for advice and assistance on fighting these terror groups. So anyone who assassinated him, is for the terrorists. And if this was ordered by their President, as the U.S. says, then this is an act of state terrorism,” he noted.

New Delhi expresses concern

On Friday, India issued a statement that expressed concern over rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran, and “noted” the U.S.’s killing of the senior Iranian official.

When asked, Mr. Chegeni said he expected India would also “condemn the assassination of an official who was on a visit to another country on official invitation.”

He stated,“We expect India as our reliable friend to advise the United States to follow international norms and not destabilise the region. We have the right to retaliate, but Iranians are patient, we will choose the time and place of our response to this killing.”

Tougher language is expected from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who is due in Delhi on January 14 to address the Raisina dialogue. The 3-day event, where U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger will also speak, could see India, which has attempted a “tightrope walk” in ties with both countries, caught in the middle again.

In March 2012 Al Jazeera probe said Delhi bombing was a “false flag” Israeli operation

The magnet bomb that exploded on an Israeli Embassy diplomat’s car in Delhi on February 13, 2012 seemed on the surface to be consistent with an Iranian-sponsored action.

It was carried out with same method by which Israel’s Iranian proxy, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, had assassinated an Iranian scientist in mid-January. It occurred on the anniversary of the 2008 assassination of Hezbollah operations chief Imad Mugniyeh, which Hezbollah had vowed to avenge. And it happened at the same time as what appeared to be attempted bombings in Bangkok and Tbilisi.

But a review of the evidence uncovered thus far makes the link to Iran begin to look very dubious. Instead, it points to the distinct possibility that the Israelis planned a carefully limited bomb attack that was not intended to cause serious injury to Israeli diplomatic personnel, but that would advance the larger Israeli narrative on the need to punish Iran.

The evidence surrounding that bomb itself indicates a series of decisions by the terrorist team that is fundamentally inconsistent with an Iranian-Hezbollah revenge bombing. The preliminary forensic analysis of the bomb itself had estimated it to be 250-300 grams of explosives, but sources in the investigation later reduced the estimate to 200-250 grams. The 250-gram bomb that exploded near the Delhi High Court in May 2011 did not even damage the car under which it had been placed and was characterised by Police Commissioner B K Gupta as a “low-intensity and mild blast”.

Burning questions

The main damage to the Israeli diplomat’s car was not from the explosion but from the fire, which burned so slowly that the occupants suffered no burns.

If the bomb had been filled with shrapnel of iron filings, nails or glass, or if it had been attached underneath the fuel tank or on the door next to the passenger, that bomb would have seriously injured or killed the passenger, Tal Yehoshua-Koren, the wife of the Israeli Defense Attaché. But Delhi police were able to determine that the bomb contained no such potentially deadly shrapnel. And an examination of the videos and photos of the car after the bombing revealed that the bomb had been attached instead to the rear of the vehicle, where it would have the least impact on the occupants.

Indian investigators obtained a fourth piece of evidence bearing on the intentions of the planners from their interview with Yehoshua-Koren. She told them the bomb did not go off for 30 to 40 seconds after she felt a bump from the rear of the car and saw the motorcyclist go past her window. Indian investigators had assumed that the bomb had operated on a five- or 10-second delay, like other magnet bombs with which they were familiar – only enough time for the motorcyclist to get far enough away from the blast.

Yehoshua-Koren did not get out of the car before the bomb went off, and suffered what the Israeli Defense Ministry called “moderate” wounds – evidently from metal fragments from the rear hatch. She was nevertheless able to exit the car and get to the Israeli Embassy without any assistance.

Israeli commentary on the bombing suggested that the Iranian-sponsored terrorist team had simply proven to be ineffective in carrying out the bombing. But the combination of these four distinct indicators strongly suggests that the operation was planned so that the passenger in the car would not be injured.

Unclear patterns

Israel claimed that the evidence links the Delhi bombing to other alleged Iranian-Hezbollah plots in Tbilisi and Bangkok. Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon declared, “It is the same pattern, the same bomb, the same lab, the same factory”.

Bomb suspects charged in Thailand

But it turns out that there was no similarity whatsoever among the bombs found in the three capitals. The one in Tbilisi was described as a grenade in a plastic bag taped to the bottom of the car, which hardly suggests a serious terror plot. Delhi police discovered that the two magnet bombs found in the house in Bangkok, where an accidental explosion had occurred, contained the much more powerful C-4 explosive as well as shrapnel – both of which were absent from the Delhi bomb. And, even more interesting, the Bangkok magnet bombs timed for only a five-second delay.

That information led investigators in Delhi to conclude that the operations in Delhi and Bangkok were “unrelated”.

Despite the fact that a group of Iranian passport-holders were clearly involved with highly lethal bombs in Bangkok, there is good reason to doubt that they were working for Iran’s IRGC or Hezbollah. They spent their first three days in the country with Thai prostitutes at Pattaya. That profile suggests Iranian mercenaries, like the former kickboxer hired by Mossad to assassinate Iranian scientist Massoud Ali Mohammadi in January 2010, rather than Iranian or Hezbollah operatives.

India’s importance

In the larger context, it is very difficult to believe that Iran would have chosen New Delhi as the location for revenge against Israel, given the importance of India as a buyer of Iranian oil and India’s delicately balanced political-diplomatic position in the larger conflict.

India had just replaced China as Iran’s single biggest crude oil customer, having increased its imports to roughly 550,000 barrels a day in January, which compensated for a drop in sales to China. And the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had resisted pressure from the United States and Europe to reduce its purchases from Iran, even working with Iran to find ways to get around the planned sanctions against Iran’s National Bank. India’s Commerce Ministry was planning a large business delegation to Iran to discuss increased trade.

India had thus taken on the role of potential “spoiler” in the Western sanctions strategy against Iran. This central geopolitical reality prompted New Delhi’s “Economic Times” to ask, “Why would Iran go and poke its finger in the eye of its best customer, especially knowing full well that Israel will use even the flimsiest excuse to put the blame on it?”

Indeed, it was Israel, not Iran that stood to gain politically from the terrorist car bomb in Delhi. Israel was well aware that a terrorist bombing in Delhi that could be blamed on Tehran was a potential lever to change India’s policy toward Iran. As an Israeli official told the Wall Street Journal, if India were to adopt Netanyahu’s position that Iran was responsible for the bombing, it would take the India-Iran relationship to “a whole different level”.

Nearly two weeks before the bombing, Israel acted to ensure that Indians would assume that a terrorist attack in Delhi on that date had been carried out by Iran. A letter to the Delhi police on February 1 signed by the Israeli Deputy Chief of Mission in Delhi and the First Secretary responsible for security expressed concern that Iran and Hezbollah would take revenge on the anniversary of the Mugniyeh assassination by carrying out terrorist actions against Israelis. It also referred to the possibility of Iranian revenge for the assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan on January 11. Although the letter did not specify that an attack might take place in Delhi, Mossad chief Tamir Pardo led a delegation of intelligence officials on a visit to Delhi around the same time and turned over a list of 50 Iranian nationals with the request that they be kept under surveillance.

The Israeli letter referred to an alleged Hezbollah terror plot against Israelis that had been broken up in Bangkok in January. But the idea of a Hezbollah plan to kill Israelis in Thailand had come only from Israeli intelligence – not from any local sources. The Thai police detained Hussein Atris, a Swedish-Lebanese, in January only because Israeli intelligence officials had told them they “suspected” that he and two other Lebanese, whom they claimed were linked to Hezbollah, might carry out terrorist attacks at tourist sites popular with Israelis.

Atris admitted to owning large supplies of urea fertiliser and ammonium nitrate, which are ingredients in bombs, but Thai investigators concluded that they were not connected to any terror plot in Thailand, because of the absence of any other bomb components. The head of Thailand’s National Security Council, General Wichean Potephosree, a former chief of police, expressed doubt that Atris was a terrorist, as Israel had claimed.

After the Bangkok explosion, the Israelis renewed the claim of an Iran-Hezbollah terror threat in Bangkok, alleging that the bombs found in in all three capitals in mid-February were “exactly the same kind of devices”. But we now know that was not the case.

We may never be able to establish with certainty what happened in Delhi, Bangkok and Tbilisi earlier this month, but the evidence that has come to light thus far doesn’t support the widely accepted notion that Iran and Hezbollah were behind it. That evidence is consistent, however, with a clever Israeli “false flag” car bombing operation that would not injure the passenger but would serve its broader strategic interests: dividing India from Iran and pushing US public opinion further towards support for war against Iran.

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian journalist on US national security policy with a PhD in South-east Asian studies from Cornell University. He has taught international studies at City College of New York and American University and has written several books on Vietnam, including Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War (University of California Press, 2005). He has also written on war and diplomacy in Cambodia, Korea and the Philippines.

(The featured image at the top shows the burnt Israeli embassy car. No one inside was injured)    

 

SendShare7TweetShareShare
Editor

Editor

Recommended Articles

  • All
  • Recommend
Full text  of  President Joe Biden’s inaugural address

Full text of President Joe Biden’s inaugural address

January 21, 2021
Geo-political dimensions of Pakistan PM’s visit to Sri Lanka

Geo-political dimensions of Pakistan PM’s visit to Sri Lanka

January 20, 2021
India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

India begins supply of COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

January 19, 2021
Adani and Ambani caught in the Indian farmers’ storm

Adani and Ambani caught in the Indian farmers’ storm

January 19, 2021
Clashing demands from Sri Lanka pose a serious challenge to UNHRC

Clashing demands from Sri Lanka pose a serious challenge to UNHRC

January 19, 2021
The rise, fall and revival of a war memorial in Jaffna

The rise, fall and revival of a war memorial in Jaffna

January 18, 2021

Advertorial

  • All
  • Advertorial
Visual and Textual Analysis for Images with Reverse Search Tools

Visual and Textual Analysis for Images with Reverse Search Tools

January 3, 2021

Popular Now

  • Kamala and Rohini:  The Indo-Lankan combo in the US Vice President’s Office

    Kamala and Rohini: The Indo-Lankan combo in the US Vice President’s Office

    135 shares
    Share 88 Tweet 20
  • Covid-19: PHIs in Sri Lanka warn of critical time in coming weeks

    21 shares
    Share 9 Tweet 5
  • Dire need to understand how the world’s ports and shipping work

    71 shares
    Share 60 Tweet 5
  • Indonesia’s Islamic body deems Sinovac vaccine ‘holy and halal’

    18 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 5
  • HSBC to close 82 branches this year

    13 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 3
  • About Us
  • Advertisements
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

© 2020 NewsIn.Asia - Lovingly maintained by DigitalArc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Around South Asia
    • Afghanistan
    • Bangladesh
    • Bhutan
    • China
    • India
    • Maldives
    • Myanmar
    • Nepal
    • Pakistan
    • Sri Lanka
  • Around The World
  • Breaking News
  • Business
    • Exchange
  • Climate Change
  • Governance
    • Crime
    • Diplomacy
    • Defense
    • Human Rights
    • Politics
    • Strategic Affairs
  • Lifestyle
    • Books
    • Entertainment
      • Arts
      • Cinema
      • Gaming
      • Music
      • Movie
      • Series
      • TV
    • Health
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
  • Culture
    • Ethnicity
    • Gender
  • Development news
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Coronavirus
  • History
  • National
  • Offbeat
    • Media
    • Music and arts across South Asia
  • Recommended
    • Headlines
    • Highlights
    • Top Picture
    • Top Story
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Cricket
      • LPL
      • IPL
    • Tennis
    • Formula 1
    • NBA
  • Tech
    • Instagram
  • United Nations
  • Weather
  • World
    • Japan
    • Russia
    • United States

© 2020 NewsIn.Asia - Lovingly maintained by DigitalArc.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In