Two Iranian nationals detained after Bangkok blasts

Police and forensic experts investigate the site where a man was injured when a bomb he was carrying exploded in central Bangkok

Terrorism

Two Iranian nationals have been detained in Thailand's capital after at least four people were injured in a string of bomb attacks. Israel has blamed Iran for the blasts, one day after attacks in Georgia and India.

Police were searching for a third suspect on Wednesday linked to a series of blasts in the Thai capital, Bangkok, a day earlier.

An Iranian man was badly maimed when a grenade he was carrying detonated in one of three bomb blasts on Tuesday. Earlier, a bomb had exploded in a house in a residential area in the city's east, drawing police as three men fled the scene.

One of the men threw a bomb at a taxi, while another tried to toss one in the direction of police, which resulted in him losing his legs. The explosions injured four others as well.

Police said Iranian identification was found on the injured man. They arrested a second Iranian man at the city's airport in the evening.

Bangkok's police chief said the force had been warned that an attack could be imminent.

"There was some warning of a possible attack and police were monitoring, but we did not know where it would happen," Phrewphan Damapong told reporters on Tuesday.

Thailand's prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, called on her countrymen and women to wait until the investigation had been completed before drawing conclusions.

"The people have no reason to panic, because the person responsible was arrested," she said.

Israel blames Iran

Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, speaks during a plenary session at the World Policy Conference at the Hofburg palace in Vienna in December

Barak blames Iran

In January, Thai police detained a Lebanese-Swedish man with alleged links to pro-Iranian Hezbollah militants. He led police to a cache of over 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds) of urea fertilizer and several liters of liquid ammonium nitrate.

Israel and the United States advised their nationals to be on the alert while in the Thai capital.

Israel's defense minister blamed Iran for the Bangkok explosions on Tuesday.

"The attempted attack in Bangkok proves once again that Iran and its proxies are continuing to act in the ways of terror, and the latest attacks are an example of that," said Ehud Barak, who was speaking from Singapore.

On Monday a bomb exploded in New Delhi, injuring an Israeli diplomat in the Indian capital. Another bomb failed to detonate in Tbilisi, Georgia, the same day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of having been behind both attacks.

ccp, ncy/dfm (dapd, AFP, AP, Reuters)