21-Jul-12: How involved in terror against Israelis and Jews are the Iranians?

Nabbed and definitely not happy: Two arrested Iranian "intelligence" officials, charged with plotting to execute terrorist attacks on Israelis and others, seated on the accused bench of  Nairobi magistrates court on June 27, 2012 [image source]

When it comes to carrying out deadly terrorist attacks on Israelis and/or Jews, just how dangerous and persistent is the government of Iran?

The New York Police Department has an answer. Its intelligence analysis arm says the government-controlled Iranian Revolutionary Guards directly or via their undercover representatives have executed nine plots against Israeli or Jewish targets around the world so far this year. This was reported in a major syndicated story on Friday by Reuters ["Exclusive: New York police link nine 2012 plots to Iran, proxies"].

Three plots were foiled in January, three in February and another three since late June. Iran has repeatedly denied supporting militant attacks abroad. The documents, labeled "Law Enforcement Sensitive," said that this week's suicide bomb attack in Bulgaria was the second plot to be unmasked there this year. The reports detail two plots in Bangkok and one each in New Delhi, Tbilisi, Baku, Mombasa and Cyprus. Each plot was attributed to Iran or its Lebanese Hezbollah militant allies, said the reports, which were produced following the bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria of a bus carrying Israeli tourists. Iran on Thursday dismissed "unfounded statements" by Israel linking Tehran to the Burgas blast, saying they were politically motivated accusations which underscored the weakness of the accusers... U.S. officials say they increasingly concur with Israeli assessments that Iran and its proxies organized the killing of seven Israeli tourists in Burgas by a suicide bomber after they boarded an airport bus.

The indefatigable Challah Hu Akbar has pulled together publicly accessible news analysis and reports, and draws the conclusion that the Islamic Republic or its proxies have done more than Reuters is reporting. His posting, also from Friday, is called "A Review of Recent Iranian/Hezbollah Plots Against Israelis & Jews Abroad" and is worth a visit. 

Here is our distillation of Challah Hu Akbar's posting. The facts of the incidents are drawn from publicly available sources.

• May 2011 - Bombing in Istanbul: Eight people were wounded in a bombing attack that was publicly attributed - like virtually all acts of terror in Turkey - to the the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera says the terrorists were in fact from the Lebanon-based Islamist organization Hezbollah and they were targetting Israel's consul general in Istanbul, Moshe Kimchi. [Report] 
• January 2012 - Baku, Azerbaijan - Thwarted attempt to kill two Jewish teachers: Azerbaijan's Ministry of National Security reported that its people had uncovered an attempt to kill two teachers employed at the Chabad Or Avner Jewish school in Baku. Three men were arrested. The charge is that they received smuggled arms and equipment from Iranian agents. [Report]
• January 2012 - Bulgarian secret service uncovered a planned attack on Israeli visitors: The plan was for a major "showcase" terror attack with Israeli citizens residing in, or traveling to, Bulgaria. The plan was to have the attack coincide with the anniversary of the killing of notorious Hezbullah figure, Imad Mughniyah, killed on Febuary 12, 2008. [Report]
• February 2012 - Car bombing of vehicle of Israeli diplomat's wife's in New Delhi: The freelance journalist arrested for facilitating an attack on an Israeli diplomat’s wife [we blogged about it here] was found by the Indian police to have been in close touch with Iranian officials, and had made two visits to Iran during 2011. [Report]
• February 2012 - Bangkok, Thailand: An explosives attack on Israeli diplomats: Three Iranians were arrested after their bombs went off prematurely (blowing off the legs of one of them) before they were able to execute a plan to attack Israeli diplomats. [Report]
• February 2012 - Bombing in Georgian Republic: The Thai authorities said they had discovered what they termed a “direct connection” between the attacks on Israeli diplomats in Bangkok with a bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in the Republic of Georgia [we blogged about that here] - as well as with the New Delhi attack. Police in Tbilisi defused an explosive device found in the car of an Israeli embassy employee a day after the fourth death anniversary of Mughniyah. The common element: the involvement of the Iranians. [Report] Iran's response was, and is, that Israel carried out an attack on its own embassy [source]. 
• February 2012 - Another attack on Israelis foiled in Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan stopped another terror attack and arrested members of a linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force. The men were arrested and their firearms and explosives seized before they could do any real harm. [Report]
• March 2012 - Once again, Azerbaijan: 22 people - all of them Azerbaijani citizens, all trained in Iran - were arrested by security services in Azerbaijan who said they were hired by Iran to carry out terrorist attacks against the United States and Israeli embassies among others. [Report]
• April 2012 - Indians deport an Iranian suspected terrorist: Indian Special Branch police found and deported an Iranian national spying on visiting Israelis and on Jewish institutions. He turned out to be a member of the Iranian intelligence service. [Report]
• May 2012 - Turkey foils imminent terrorist threat by Iranians: The Israeli Mossad gave its Turkish counterparts information on an Iranian effort to attack Israelis. The Turks then acted effectively behind the scenes to thwart the plot. [Report]
• June 2012 - Iranians plot attack on Israelis in Kenya: Two Iranian men led Kenyan police to a 33-pound stash of explosives and admitted they were plotting to attack U.S. and Israeli and other targets. [Report]
• July 2012 - Cyprus plot: A Swedish/Lebanese national was arrested by Cyprus police for planning attacks against Israeli tourists. [We blogged about his arrest here.] After police interrogation, he admitted to being a member of Hezbollah and the head of a terror cell.
• July 2012 - Thursday's bombing of a tourist bus in Bulgaria: U.S. officials quoted in the New York Times said the man who bombed a bus full of Israelis on Thursday [we reported it here] was a member of a Hezbollah terror cell, corroborating Israel’s assertions. [Report]