By Georgy Kalatozishvili, exclusively to VK
The strange incident that occurred at the Israeli diplomatic office in Tbilisi captured the attention of the Georgian expert community. According to the official police report, an explosive device was found in the personal vehicle of Roman Khachaturyan, Georgian citizen and employee of the Israeli embassy. The device was defused. The police enacted legal proceedings. However, the report doesn’t state what the actual legal clause is attributed to the investigation.
The explosive device was attached to the personal car of the driver, not to any of the official diplomatic vehicles, but it makes no big difference: the terrorists knew that Khachaturyan leaves his car in the embassy parking lot every day. If the power of the device was big enough, it could have caused significant damage to the premises or even casualties. Fortunately, the driver noticed the device in time and the police neutralised it.
Now experts are trying to figure out what ties this incident to the general aggravation of the situation with Iran. “VK” asked several experts to comment on that.
Irakly Aladashvili, editor-in-chief of independent military-analytical ‘Arsenali’ magazine:
First of all, one should know the exact type of the explosive device. Was it professional or was it made ‘at home’? Before these questions are answered, one shouldn’t jump to any conclusions. Personally, I think that Georgia shouldn’t get involved in the Israeli-Iranian face-off.
Mikhail Tavkheladze, independent expert, ‘Tabula’ magazine columnist:
The Israeli PM said that the attempted act of terror in Tbilisi was organized by Iran. I believe it is quite possible. But I don’t think that any terrorists would have any success in Georgia. When Russian special services try to organize terrorist acts in Georgia, they have a foothold in the ex-KGB network, but Islamist terrorists have no footholds here at all. There is no Islamic underground here. The population trusts the police and reports all suspicious activity right away. Terrorists usually pick a number of different locations for simultaneous attacks, for example, Delhi and Tbilisi. It is possible that they are ‘checking out’ Georgia’s security forces. Obviously, we ‘passed the test’. In our favour
Irakly Batiashvili, ex-head of the Georgian Information and Intelligence Bureau:
I recently published a brochure “Clash of Worlds and Georgia’s Fate”. I wrote there that the escalation around Iran would lead to activization of various terrorist groups, and on Georgian territory as well. I also predicted that their prime target here would be the Israeli embassy and its staff, as well as the US embassy and its employees. Today it is not a forecast, but a reality, and we’ll have to do a great deal of work to neutralize all the risks.
