JERUSALEM: Indian intelligence agencies have "considerable evidence" of Iran's involvement in the February 13 attack on an Israeli diplomat but are not releasing it in a bid to avoid public confrontation with Tehran, a top Israeli security official has claimed.
The senior Israeli official told daily Ha'aretz that the Indians are "close to fully solving the case but they are not saying so publicly".
However, Indians have not "concealed the information in their possession" in quiet contacts with Israel and the United States, the unidentified senior official was quoted as saying.
It said the Indians have located the motorcycle used in the attack, have identified who purchased it, and know how and when the attackers arrived in India.
"The Indians received a great deal of assistance in the investigation from the United States and Israel and did a lot of work themselves," the daily quoted the official as saying.
The Israeli official reportedly noted that the Indian security services have decided to characterise the incident as a case that, until further notice, is under investigation.
This has lowered the pressure for the release of details, and the need to make serious decisions on how to proceed has been deferred, the source pointed out.
Indian investigators were sent to Georgia and Thailand, where there were failed attacks, a short time after the New Delhi blast, to compare findings over the explosive charges used and evidence was found of Iranian involvement in the attempts, the daily said.
40-year-old Tal Yehoshua, wife of Israeli Defence Attache in New Delhi, suffered spine and liver injuries in the Feb 13 attack.
Meanwhile, reacting to the report, the Israeli ambassador in New Delhi, Alon Ushpiz, said he was "not aware" of the details outlined in this article but expressed "full confidence" in the Indian agencies probing the incident.
"As we have said time after time in the last 2 weeks since our friend and colleague Tal Yehoshua Koren was attacked by terrorists in New Delhi, we have the full confidence and the highest appreciation for the Government of India and it's relevant agencies.
"We are grateful for their assistance and appreciative of our cooperation. We have no doubt that justice will be done," he said.