BICOM

Officials in Kenya told the Associated Press news agency that two Iranian agents arrested with explosives planned to attack Israeli, American, British or Saudi Arabian targets inside Kenya. The officials said yesterday that the plot appears to fit into a global pattern of attacks or attempted attacks by Iranian agents, mostly against Israeli interests.

Kenyan security forces arrested Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammad and Sayed Mansour Mousavi last week with 33 pounds of RDX, a powerful explosive, in Mombasa. Several hotels on the coast are Israeli-owned. One official said those arrested are members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force.

Iranian agents are suspected in several attacks or thwarted attacks around the globe over the last year, including in Azerbaijan, Thailand, India and the United States. Most of the plots have had connections to Israeli targets. Militants in 2002 bombed an Israeli-owned luxury hotel near Mombasa, killing 13 people. The militants also tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner at the same time. An al-Qaeda operative was linked to those attacks.

In related news, Iranian MPs have signed a draft law aimed at banning Europe-bound oil tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz to punish EU nations that imposed sanctions on the Islamic republic, according to a report by AFP on Monday. The Iranian bill comes after an EU embargo on Iranian oil went into effect on Sunday, provoking anger in Tehran which says the measure will hurt talks with world powers over its sensitive nuclear activities. Oil market observer bodies and analysts say the embargo, coupled with US financial sanctions ramped up on Thursday, are gutting Iran’s vital oil exports, which account for half of government revenues.

Meanwhile, Iranian representatives are scheduled to meet in Istanbul with delegates from the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany). A statement issued by the EU said the meeting is aimed at reaching greater clarification of the proposals made to Iran in the latest round of talks in Moscow, of the Iranian response and of issues Tehran has raised in recent rounds of discussions.