Iran behind bombings: Israel

Israel sought to lay blame directly on Iran over twin bomb attacks targeting its embassy staff in India and Georgia that injured four people on Monday.

"Iran and its proxy Hezbollah are behind each of these attacks," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "We will continue to take strong and systematic, yet patient, action against the international terrorism that originates in Iran."

Earlier Monday, a car exploded in a ball of fire outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, injuring two people, one of whom was an Israeli woman. Separately, the Georgian Interior Ministry confirmed that police in the capital, Tbilisi, had defused an explosive device found in the car of an Israeli embassy employee.

Tehran has denied complicity in the intended attacks, which come at a time of tension between the countries over Iran's contested nuclear program.

"We categorically reject the accusations made by the Zionist regime. They are part of a propaganda war," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the Arabic-language Al-Alam broadcaster. "Iran condemns all acts of terrorism," he added.

Iran's Lebanese ally, the Shi'ite movement Hezbollah, has so far declined comment on the matter.

The United States condemned the attacks, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commenting that "the scourge or terrorism is an affront to the entire international community."

"The United States places a high priority on the safety and security of diplomatic personnel around the world, and we stand ready to assist with any investigation of these cowardly actions," Clinton said.

However, the White House has said it remains unclear who precisely had orchestrated the attacks. "We have no information yet to share with you about who was behind those attacks,” said administration spokesman Jay Carney. “We're obviously working and discussing with the Israelis and others to ascertain exactly that," he added.

dfm/ncy (AFP, AP, Reuters)