Thai court jails two Iranians for bomb plot
One of the two sentenced to life over botched plot last year believed to be aimed at Israeli diplomats in Bangkok.
A court in Thailand has convicted two Iranian men for their involvement in a botched bomb plot that officials believe was aimed at Israeli diplomats in the capital, Bangkok.
The court sentenced 39-year-old Saeid Moradi to life in prison on Thursday for attempting to murder a police officer and carrying explosives.
It also sentenced 43-year-old Mohammad Kharzei to 15 years in jail for his role in setting off the blasts.
The pair, who had denied the charges, were among five Iranians suspected of involvement in the blasts that followed attacks in India and Georgia targeting Israeli diplomats.
A huge explosion tore the roof off a house in suburban Bangkok on February 14 last year, when bombs detonated apparently accidentally, sending the five men fleeing into the streets.
Prosecutors accused Moradi of hurling one bomb at a taxi and a second at two police officers as they approached him on the street, but it instead detonated near him.
The court heard that Khazaei ran out of the house after the first explosion and headed to the airport where police arrested him at the boarding gate.
Israel accused Tehran of waging a terror campaign over the incidents, which came soon after bombers targeted Israeli embassy staff in the capitals of India and Georgia in attacks Israel said were plotted by Iran.
One man is in custody in Malaysia, where he fled after the Bangkok explosions, and is fighting extradition to Thailand.
Two other suspects are believed to have returned to Iran.