NEW DELHI — An Indian journalist has been arrested as part of an investigation into the bombing last month of a van carrying the wife of an Israeli diplomat, an attack for which Israeli officials have blamed Iran.
The suspect, Mohammed Kazmi, appeared in a New Delhi court on Wednesday after his arrest earlier in the week. The blast occurred on Feb. 13 in New Delhi, the same day that an explosive was discovered and defused inside the vehicle of an Israeli diplomat in Georgia.
A day later, an explosion occurred, apparently accidentally, at a home in Bangkok used by three Iranians. Israeli officials have said the three episodes are part of a coordinated attempt by Iran to attack Israeli diplomats, a charge denied by Iran.
The Press Trust of India news agency reported that Mr. Kazmi, 50, worked for an Iranian news agency in New Delhi. Reuters, citing Mr. Kazmi’s lawyer and family members, said he worked for the Indian state television channel, Doordarshan, and freelanced for Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency. A police spokesman, Rajan Bhagat, would not comment directly on specific reports but said obliquely that details reported broadly in the Indian news media on Wednesday were correct.
“This is a very sensitive matter and nothing more can be divulged at this stage,” Officer Bhagat said. Mr. Kazmi has been charged with criminal conspiracy. The Press Trust reported that an investigation showed that Mr. Kazmi had been in touch with a suspect believed to have actually carried out the attack, in which a motorcyclist pulled up in traffic and attached an explosive device to the targeted vehicle.
The diplomat’s wife, who was wounded along with several others, was apparently en route to the American Embassy School in New Delhi to collect her children. The attack occurred on a street directly across from the official residence of India’s prime minister.
The attack has placed India in a complicated position. India is dependent on oil imported from Iran and has not yet endorsed the Israeli view that Iranian agents are responsible for the blast. At the same time, India does not want to anger Israel, which has become a major supplier of military armaments and technology. Moreover, the episode exposed anew the vulnerability of Indian security to terrorist attacks.
The possibility that Mr. Kazmi worked for an Iranian news agency would only worsen the diplomatic quandary for India.
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