An incentive for India to back sanctions against Iran?
Expert on Israeli-Iranian relations says Monday’s attack in New Delhi could provide some leverage
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleRaphael Ahren is a former diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.
The fact that one of Monday’s attacks on Israeli embassies was in New Delhi may help Israel in convincing the Indian government to join sanctions recently enacted by the US and EU against Iran, according to a leading expert on Israeli-Iranian relations.
Despite its denials, Iran is a key suspect in having perpetrated the attacks, noted Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born writer and analyst based in Tel Aviv.
“India continues to buy oil from Iran. This attack could be used as leverage to pressure India to join the sanctions. It’s possible that this could bring the Indians to stop buying oil from the Iranians,” he said.
Mere hours after a car bomb injured at least one Israeli in New Delhi, and a bomb was defused under the car of an employee of the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the regime in Tehran and its proxy Hezbollah for the attacks.
“Even if Prime Minister Netanyahu hadn’t made that statement, Iran would be one of the suspects,” said Javedanfar.
The fact that Iran is believed to have a strong intelligence presence in India suggests that the regime may have cooperated with Indian or Pakistani Islamic militants in carrying out the attacks, he speculated.
The Times of Israel Community.