Washington: The CIA is believed to have
shared information with its Indian counterparts on the last
week bomb attack in New Delhi on an Israeli diplomatic car,
including on alleged Iranian links.
Informed sources claimed that the Indian intelligence
agencies have confirmed and corroborated the intelligence
information on the bombing shared by the CIA.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the
sources expressed "surprise" that despite the alleged Iranian
links, India has kept mum on it, which they claimed is mainly
due to its diplomatic implications and its impact on
India-Iran ties.
They, however, did not comment on how credible the
information is.
The CIA did not respond to the e-mail sent on
this issue earlier in the day.
Lisa Curtis, a former CIA analyst and now a Senior
Research Fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, says
that last Monday`s attack on the Israeli diplomat in New Delhi
has shined an uncomfortable spotlight on Indo-Iran ties.
"If evidence revealing an Iranian hand in the attacks
builds, the Indian government will have no choice but to
condemn it. India would likely limit its reaction to
condemnations, however, and stop short of taking other actions
like expelling Iranian diplomats from the country," Curtis
said.
"India will find it increasingly challenging to balance
its interest in maintaining cordial relations with Iran and
avoiding tensions with the US over the Iranian nuclear
stand-off as the situation intensifies," Curtis said, adding
that there are no easy solutions for New Delhi.
The US State Department, so far, has maintained that it
is awaiting the results of the Indian investigations, but has
observed that it would not be surprised if the attacks are
traced to Iran.
"We wouldn`t be surprised if the fingerprints and the
trail lead back to Iran but we`re not in a position to assess
until the investigations of the host governments are
complete," State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, had
said Friday.
Notably, soon after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu had blamed Iran.
"Iran is behind these attacks; it is the largest exporter
of terrorism in the world," Netanyahu had said.
"The Government of Israel and the security services will
continue to act together with local security forces against
such acts of terrorism. We will continue to take strong and
systematic, yet patient, action against the international
terrorism that originates in Iran," he had said.
PTI
