BANGKOK — Malaysian authorities arrested a third Iranian suspect wanted over a failed bomb plot targeting Israeli diplomats in Bangkok after he fled to Malaysia.
The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, left Bangkok for Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday afternoon, according to deputy police chief Pol Gen Pansiri, cited by Thai newspaper The Nation.
A senior Thai security official said Sedaghatzadeh was arrested in Kuala Lumpur about 3:00pm local time Wednesday. He reportedly was scheduled to board a flight to Tehran on Wednesday.
The two other Iranians suspected of carrying out the attack — which struck in Bangkok’s Klongton district Tuesday and injured five bystanders — remain in police custody.
Suspect Mohammad Hazaei was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday as he tried to escape to Malaysia.
His alleged accomplice, 28-year-old Saerb Morabi, had his legs blown off while trying to throw a bomb at police while fleeing an earlier unintended blast at a house in the Thai capital.
Morabi remained unconscious in the hospital Wednesday, in stable condition.
Police also are searching for an Iranian woman believed to have rented a Bangkok house for the trio.
Thai media reports stated that the incident began when a bomb exploded accidentally inside the Bangkok house rented a month ago by the group. They then tried to flee the home, throwing explosives at a taxi and police.
A senior Thai intelligence official confirmed Wednesday that Israeli diplomats were the intended target of the failed bomb plot.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Iran’s “terrorist activities” had been exposed to the world in the wake of the blast.
“Iran is undermining the stability of the world,” Netanyahu said in remarks made at a special Israeli parliamentary session in honor of visiting Croatian president Ivo Josipovic. “Nations of the world must condemn these incidents and draw red lines against this Iranian aggression. Aggression like this, if it is not stopped, will spread like a storm.”
A Thai government minister said the two suspects detained in Thailand were charged.
“They are charged with causing an illegal explosion in a public area and attempting to kill police officers and members of the public,” foreign minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul told reporters.
A Thai Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) official examines a backpack that was left on the bomb site by a suspect bomber in Bangkok Tuesday. (AP)
Israel’s ambassador to Thailand said Wednesday that the Iranian suspects were “part of the same network” as assailants who targeted Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia on Monday.
The bomb attack in New Delhi seriously wounded the wife of a diplomat.
Itzhak Shoham said there appeared to be a close link between the bombings in three world capitals in less than 24 hours.
“This is what we were concerned about … that the targets were the Israelis — same system, same explosive and part of the same network,” he said.
Iran, however, has denied any link with the explosions in Bangkok — and the New Delhi and Tbilisi incidents — accusing “elements linked with the [Israeli] Zionist regime” of being responsible, according to Iranian state TV.