New Delhi: Iran on Wednesday refused to ‘accept’ or ‘deny’ its role in the bomb attack on an Israeli car here but questioned the basis of the allegations, saying it should be left to India to verify the real position.
“We are not accepting or denying this (Israeli allegation about Tehran being behind the car bomb blast here). I don’t know how can we assume within short moment who has done this,” Iranian Ambassador to India Mehdi Nabizadeh told reporters here.
He was responding to allegations levelled by Israel that Iran was behind the magnetic bomb attack on its mission employee near Prime Minister’s residence here on Monday in which four persons including an Israeli diplomat were injured. “It (incident) has happened in India. If Indian security said something like that (then) we have to verify…. This is false and they (Israel) always keep feeding such a thing,” the ambassador said. Asked about India’s reaction to the allegations, Nabizadeh hoped New Delhi will come out with a “final reaction” after verifying the case. “We hope India will verify the case to know the real position. Till now, their (India’s) final reaction has not come. We are wishing the reaction to come,” Nabizadeh said.
Tal Yehoshua(40), wife of a Israeli Defence Attache, who herself is a diplomat and working in the mission, was critically injured in the explosion and underwent surgeries at the private Primus hospital for removal of splinters from her spine and liver.
She was among the four persons wounded due the blast. Following the car bomb attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran and its “protege” Hezbollah of carrying out the twin bomb attacks on Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia and accused Tehran of being the “world’s largest terror exporter”.
Noting that bilateral ties between India and Iran was “good”, Nabizadeh said “no third country” can put hurdle in the relationship. “It (the relationship with India) is good and it should be better. Iran and India have good relations…. Both governments would be collaborating with each other much better than before,” he said. (PTI)