Israeli car blast: Red Corner notice issued against four

New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) Interpol has issued a red corner notice against four Iranian nationals for their alleged involvement in the Israeli embassy car bombing in the capital last month, said a CBI official Friday.

Interpol issued the notice Thursday, a week after the request made by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to arrest the four suspects - Houshang Afshar Irani, Seyed Ali Mahdiansadr, Mohammadreza Abolghasemi and Sedaghatzadeh Masoud - for their involvement in the Feb 13 Israeli embassy car blast.

The senior CBI official said that the requests for arrest of the four accused, wanted for terrorism-related offences including criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder, have been transmitted to Interpol's 190 member countries.

According to the Interpol website, Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said India's request for the red notices would make it 'extremely difficult for the suspects to travel internationally in an attempt to evade capture'.

According to the CBI official, Irani, Mahdiansadr and Abolghasemi were behind the New Delhi blast while Masoud was the operational head in the Feb 14 Bangkok blast.

Irani, the man who stuck the explosive on the Israeli embassy car, had left the city on the same day for Malaysia, while the other two left the city two days before the blast.

Irani, who had come twice to Delhi, was in touch with Masoud. Masoud was arrested from Malaysia the next day after the arrest of his associates Moradi Saeid and Mohammed Khazaei in the same case.

Call records of an Iranian SIM found in arrested journalist S.A.M. Kazmi's possession showed that Irani was in touch with Masoud, the official said.

A Delhi court has issued non-bailable arrest warrants against the three of the Iranians.

Four people were injured in the incident that occurred close to the prime minister's residence.

Tal Yehoshua Koren, wife of the Israeli defence attache, suffered multiple injuries when a motorcycle rider attached a magnetic explosive device to her car and sped away. Within seconds, the device exploded with a thunderous sound, setting the car on fire.