The Israeli government decided to raise the level of security alert and tighten security around its embassies around the world, this came after the bombing incident near the embassy in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Channel 12 reported that the decision came after estimates not to rule out Iranian parties being behind the bombing.

The Israeli channel also claimed to find a message near the site of the bombing, which included the names of Iranian leaders accusing Tehran of Tel Aviv of assassinating them.

For his part, Israel's ambassador to India, Ron Malka, told Agence France-Presse yesterday, Saturday, that the embassy in New Delhi was on high alert due to receiving "threats" even before a small bomb exploded outside the mission headquarters.

Malka added that he was not surprised by Friday's attack, which did not result in any injuries, but it caused the windows of 3 cars to shatter.

The road outside the embassy remained closed on Saturday as forensic experts sought evidence relating to what Israeli officials described in Jerusalem as a "terrorist attack".

For its part, the Indian police described the attack so far as "a malicious attempt to cause a stir."

"This could have ended differently in other circumstances, so we were lucky," the Israeli ambassador said in a telephone interview.

"We are always ready. We raised the level of alert in recent days due to some threats," he added, without providing further details, noting that the bombing did not surprise them.

Indian police at the Israeli embassy headquarters after the bombing (Reuters)

Mission and goals

For its part, Indian media reports said that investigators found an envelope containing a letter addressed to the Israeli ambassador on the street.

The Indian Express reported that the letter described the explosion as a "prologue" and referred to the "Iranian martyrs" Qassem Soleimani and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Soleimani, a former commander of the Quds Force in the Revolutionary Guards, was killed in a US drone strike in January 2020.

Fakhrizadeh, one of the country's top nuclear scientists, was killed last November.

In February 2012, a bomb blast targeting an Israeli diplomatic car in New Delhi injured 4 people.

Indian police considered the attack a malicious attempt to cause a stir (Reuters)

Threat and pursue

In response to a question about whether there is a link to Iran this time, Malik said, "These non-state actors that seek to destabilize the region and the world do not like what is happening between Israel and India, who seek stability and peace."

"This may pose a threat to them," he said.

On Friday, Indian Foreign Minister Subramaniyam Gishankar said he had spoken to his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi about the blast.

"We take this matter very seriously," Gishankar wrote on Twitter, adding that he promised to provide "maximum protection for the Israeli embassy and diplomats."

The blast came on the 29th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Israel.

Since then, relations between the two countries have deepened and India has become one of the largest buyers of Israeli defense equipment.

In 2017, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel, and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu visited India a year later.