Police in Thailand said Friday they were hunting for a fifth Iranian suspected in a failed bomb plot in Bangkok that has sent tensions between Israel and Iran soaring. The tourist magnet has stepped up security following Tuesday’s blasts, the third bomb incident to shake world capitals in less than 24 hours. Tehran has denied Israeli charges it is waging a terror campaign against the Jewish state. Arrest warrants have been issued for four Iranians, two of whom have been detained and charged over the botched attack, which came to light after an apparently unintended explosion at a Bangkok house on Tuesday. Now police are compiling evidence and witness accounts to seek a warrant for another suspect whose whereabouts are unknown. “The additional suspect is 52-year-old Iranian man Nikkhahfard Javad who was seen leaving the house hours before the blast,” said Bangkok Metropolitan Police deputy commander Anuchai Lekbumrung. According to Thai media, the man is suspected of being a trainer in bomb-making. Reports said the authorities were also gathering information on a potential sixth suspect seen visiting the house previously. Thai police chief Phrewphan Damapong has said that Israeli diplomats were the intended target of the plot, but Tehran has rejected accusations that it is behind a terror campaign against the Jewish state. One of the suspects — named as 28-year-old Saeid Moradi — had his legs blown off as he hurled a bomb at Thai police while fleeing. Another, Mohamad Khazaei, was detained trying to board a flight out of the country. Thailand is seeking the extradition of another Iranian arrested in Malaysia in connection with the blasts, while an Iranian woman who rented the house used by the suspects in Bangkok is thought to have fled the kingdom.
