One of the wounded is at risk of losing an eye, a hospital official said. No group claimed responsibility, but Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said anarchists were thought to be behind the blasts.
"Various elements lead us to believe that this is the correct path," he was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. "These are very violent groups that are also present in Spain and Greece and are very well connected."
On Nov. 2, suspected Greek radical anarchists sent 14 mail bombs to foreign embassies in Athens, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Two of the devices exploded, causing no injuries.
A group called Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire claimed responsibility for the Greek blasts. It called on militants in Greece and other countries to step up their action, and Greek police noted Thursday that in the past, acts of "solidarity" have been carried out between Greek and Italian militant groups.
While there may be an emotional link between Greek and Italian militant groups, Greece says it is unlikely that militants from the country were showing the Italians what to do.
All embassies in Rome were informed of the blasts and Italian diplomats abroad were urged to take precautions.
The first bomb exploded inside the Swiss Embassy at around noon. The man who opened it was hospitalized with serious hand injuries, but his life was not in danger, Swiss Ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni said.
Three hours later, a small parcel bomb exploded inside the mail room of the Chilean Embassy, slightly wounding an administrative official, Cesar Mella, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said in Santiago. The official went on his own to the hospital for treatment.
Both victims had wounds to their hands and were in stable condition, but Mella risks losing his right eye because of lesions on his cornea from the blast, said Massimiliano Talucci, a spokesman at Rome's Umberto I Hospital.
