BANGKOK, 23 February 2012 – The Foreign Ministry has affirmed that the Iranian Embassy has started the verification of the identities of the Iranian nationals, arrested in connection with last week’s explosions in Bangkok.
Mr. Thani Thongphakdi, Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday that the Ministry has passed the copies of passports belonged to the Bangkok blast suspects to the Iranian Embassy since February 15. The embassy has also confirmed that the documents are now in the hand of Tehran to verify their authenticity.
Five people, including one Iranian bomber, were wounded in 3 explosions in central Bangkok on February 14. Two suspects have been arrested and put under detention in Thailand, while another remains under the custody of Malaysian authorities. Thai officials are also looking for one man and one woman, believed to be parts of the bomb plot against Israeli diplomats in the country.
While asserting that Tehran will need some time to wrap up the verification process, Mr. Thani said he has no knowledge of reports, which suggested that the Iranian Embassy could not confirm the nationality of the suspects by itself, due to interference from Israel and the United States.
The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson added that Thailand believes the Iranian government will likely ask for more information to help in its investigation, a move that the Thai government is willing to cooperate on.
