Israeli PM accuses Iran of bombings in India, Georgia

Jerusalem: Israel's prime minister has accused Iran of being behind a pair of car bombings against Israeli diplomatic targets in India and Georgia.

Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of lawmakers from his Likud Party on Monday that he believed the Iranians were responsible for the attacks in New Delhi and Tbilisi. Two people were wounded in India and the bomb in Georgia was discovered before it went off.

Netanyahu said Israel has thwarted other attacks in recent months in Azerbaijan, Thailand and elsewhere.

"In all those cases, the elements behind these attacks were Iran and its protege Hezbollah," he said.

Iran has accused Israel of involvement in a series of killings of officials and scientists involved in its controversial nuclear program.

Assailants attacked Israeli diplomatic targets in India and Georgia in near-simultaneous strikes on Monday, wounding two people in a car bombing in New Delhi, officials said. Israel's Foreign Ministry said an attempted car bombing in Georgia was thwarted when the device was discovered before it went off.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But suspicion fell on Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, which both have deep grievances against the Jewish state.

Hezbollah recently marked the anniversary of the 2008 assassination of one of its commanders, Imad Mughniyeh, in a bombing widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. And Iran suspects Israeli involvement in a series of killings of officials and scientists involved in its controversial nuclear program.

The explosion in India tore through a diplomat's car, Israeli officials said. The Foreign Ministry did not identify the wounded, but Indian officials said the driver and a diplomat's wife were injured.