Israel Blames Iran for Attacks on Diplomats

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blaming Iran and Hezbollah for a pair of attacks Monday that appeared to target Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia.

The Associated Press reports that at least four were wounded in the New Delhi attack when an assailant riding a motorcycle apparently attached a bomb to an Israeli diplomat's car there. Israel says that a second attempted bombing in Georgia was thwarted.

While no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, Netanyahu was quick to point the finger, telling a group of lawmakers that "Iran is behind these attacks," and calling the Islamic Republic the "largest terror exporter in the world."

He also said that Israel has prevented similar bombings in Azerbaijan and Thailand over the past few months. And those attacks, he says, were orchestrated by Iran and "its protege," Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Israel's foreign missions were already on high alert this week: Feb. 12 is the anniversary of the 2008 assassination of Imad Moughniyeh, a Hezbollah commander. Israel is "widely believed," the AP explains, to be behind that bombing, and Hezbollah had vowed revenge. More recently, Iran has blamed Israel for the deaths of several scientists involved in Iran's nuclear program. As Reuters notes, Israel is believed to be in the middle of a "covert war" with Iran, centered around the sabotage of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

Israel has stepped up its rhetoric on Iran in recent months as reports suggest its controversial nuclear program continues to move forward. Israeli leaders have gone so far as to suggest it may take unilateral action against Iran if they remain unsatisfied with the diplomatic response from the United States and other Western allies.