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EU Condemns Attacks on Israeli Diplomats

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The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton has condemned the bomb attacks on Israeli diplomats' cars in India and Georgia.

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton has condemned the bomb attacks on Israeli diplomats' cars in India and Georgia.

On Monday, a bomb blast in New Delhi set an Israeli Embassy’s car on fire and injured four people, while an explosive device underneath a diplomat's car in Tbilisi was discovered and safely defused.

"The High Representative condemns in the strongest terms today’s attacks targeting personnel of the Israeli embassies in India and Georgia," Ashton's spokesperson said in a written statement on Monday.

The United States also condemned the attacks and pledged to help with the investigation.

"The United States places a high priority on the safety and security of diplomatic personnel around the world and we stand ready to assist with any investigation of these cowardly actions," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier blamed Iran and the militant Islamist Hezbollah movement for the attacks, which appeared to mirror the recent killings of Iranian nuclear scientists that Tehran blamed on Israel.

Iran denied the accusation saying it was part of “the Zionist regime's psychological war against Iran,” which targeted controversial Iranian nuclear program.

Western countries and Israel suspect Iran of seeking to build an atomic bomb, but Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at the production of peaceful civilian energy and that it has no need of such “un-Islamic” weapons.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was reported as saying earlier this month that Israel could strike Iran between April and June this year to counter what it describes as a significant threat to its national security. The United States has also refused to rule out force.

Tehran has pledged a “painful” response to any attack and has also threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital Gulf shipping route, in answer to a European Union ban on Iranian oil due to come into force by July.

 

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