The 2012 bomb plot involving the three Iranian was exposed when an accidental explosion blew apart the Bangkok villa where they were staying. Three Iranians Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, Saeid Moradi and Mohammad Kharzei were arrested by the Bangkok police. Investigations by the Thai and Israeli security agencies revealed that those arrested were planning for a bomb attack on Israeli diplomats in Bangkok.
Thailand officials on Thursday said they approved the transfer of three Iranians back to Tehran who were involved in a 2012 bomb plot. The decision to release them comes as Iran released a 33-year-old Australian academic who was imprisoned for more than two years on spying charges. The 2012 Bangkok bombings were a series of explosions that occurred in Bangkok, Thailand on 14 February 2012, injuring five people. Thai authorities said that the bombings were a botched attempt by Iranian nationals to assassinate Israeli diplomats.
Though several international media agencies have called it a prisoner swap, Thai officials did not call it so during their presser. They also did not clarify on the supposed involvement of Australia that might have led to these developments. The reference for the same comes from Iranian state TV which said that Tehran has released British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert in exchange for three Iranians held abroad. Thailand has however not officially called it as a prisoner swap or exchange.
Thailand’s deputy attorney general Chatchom Akapin informed the media that the government had approved the transfer of the prisoners under an agreement with Iran. He further stated that Thailand has similar agreements with several other countries and wishes to get Thai nationals back under such agreements whenever needed.
2012 Bangkok Bomb Plot
The 2012 bomb plot involving the three Iranian was exposed when an accidental explosion blew apart the Bangkok villa where they were staying. Three Iranians Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, Saeid Moradi and Mohammad Kharzei were arrested by the Bangkok police. Investigations by the Thai and Israeli security agencies revealed that those arrested were planning for a bomb attack on Israeli diplomats in Bangkok.
Among the three arrested, Saeid Moradi and Mohammad Kharzei, were convicted in Thailand in 2013. Moradi, 29, was sentenced to life for attempting to murder a police officer, while Kharzei was sentenced to 15 years for possessing explosives.
Moradi, a factory technician from Tehran and a former soldier, lost parts of both legs as he tried to flee the villa on a crowded Bangkok street. He was carrying explosives from the house and dropped them in the street as police tried to stop him. The third suspect, Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, 31, was detained in Malaysia. In 2017, a federal court there ordered his extradition to Thailand.
Iran has denied the allegations and had demanded that those arrested be returned to them as these men were never charged with terrorism per se. Iran has welcomed the return of the terror accused but has maintained that they were imprisoned only for trying to bypass sanctions on Iran and not for terror activities.
Release of Kylie Moore-Gilbert
Iran which has released British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert too has not called it a prisoner swap. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was “thrilled and relieved” that Moore-Gilbert had been released but added it would take time for her to process her “horrible” ordeal.
In a statement, Moore-Gilbert thanked Australia’s government and diplomats for securing her release, as well as supporters who campaigned for her freedom.
Moore-Gilbert was a Melbourne University lecturer on Middle Eastern studies who was in Tehran in 2018 to attend an academic conference. She was picked up at the Tehran airport when she was about to leave the country after the conference. She was convicted of spying and sentenced to 10 years and sent to Tehran’s Evin prison which holds notorious criminals. The lecturer has vehemently denied the charges and has maintained that she was innocent.
International pressure had been building on Iran to release Moore-Gilbert since her arrest. She has gone on repeated hunger strikes and her health had deteriorated during long stretches in solitary confinement, say reports published in Associated Press.
Moore-Gilbert was one of several Westerners held in Iran on charges of espionage. Such arrests of prominent people from the West are believed by the U.N. investigators to be a systematic effort by Iran to leverage such imprisonments for money or influence in negotiations with the Western countries.
Balaji Subramanian 
Aayush Pal 
Viswapramod C