U.S. condemns terror attack, hints at Iran 'fingerprints'

Reuters -- State Department spokeswoman stops short of blaming Iran directly for Tuesday's botched attack in Bangkok, but says it comes on heels of other 'Iranian-linked' attacks.

The U.S. condemned the botched terror attack in Thailand's capital on Tuesday, suggesting it may be linked to Iran.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S.was awaiting the results of investigations, and did not blame Iran directly. However, she noted Monday's incidents in India and Georgia, and recent "Iranian-sponsored" and "Hezbollah-linked" plots to attack Israeli and Western interests in Azerbaijan and Thailand.

Earlier on Tuesday, a man thought to be an Iranian national was seriously wounded in Bangkok when a bomb he was carrying exploded and blew his legs off. Shortly before, there had been an explosion in a house the man was renting in the Ekamai area of central Bangkok.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the attempted bombing proves that Iran and its proxies continue operating using terror methods.

Five people were wounded as a result of Tuesday's attack. A taxi driver told Thai television that the Iranian man had thrown a bomb in front of his car before running off, injuring him slightly.

Thitima said police had tried to move in and arrest the man after the blast by the taxi. According to the Bangkok Post, he threw another grenade at the police that hit a tree and bounced back toward him, exploding and causing him to lose both his legs.

Police later said they had apprehended another suspect at Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi airport, one of two men they were looking for who had been living at the house where the initial blast took place.

"We discovered the injured man's passport. It's an Iranian passport and he entered the country through Phuket and arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport on the 8th of this month," Police General Bansiri Prapapat told Reuters.

The blasts came a day after a twin bomb attack targeted Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia. Israel accused arch-enemies Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of being behind those attacks.

Iran denied involvement in the New Delhi and Tbilisi bombs.