'CIA shares intel info on Delhi blast'
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 to PTI 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 by the PTI 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 told PTI.
"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.
