Thailand’s government told Israel that it had been given a pledge from Iran that it would not initiate attacks on Israeli tourists visiting the Southeast Asian country, according to an Israeli Foreign Ministry cable which was confirmed by two Israeli officials, Axios reported.
Iran has been accused in the past of ordering its operatives to attack Israelis visiting Thailand. The country has long been a popular tourist destination for Israelis.
In June, Thai media reported that the country’s security forces had been placed on high alert due to security concerns after an Iranian agent was arrested in Indonesia.
Less than half a year later, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s political director, Aliza Bin-Noun, met with a senior Thai Foreign Ministry official in Bangkok on November 15. During the meeting Bin-Noun was told by the senior official that he had visited Tehran in August to speak about security matters. The official told Bin-Noun that he had requested that Iran continue a commitment it had made a year earlier not to target Israelis in Thailand. Iran responded that it would abide by the commitment into the future.
The pledge by Iran not to target Israelis in Thailand had not been public knowledge until now, according to Axios.