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Israel blames Iran for deadly coach bomb in Bulgaria

Israel pledges to retaliate as it blames Iran for deadly attack on tourist coach.

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Iran has been blamed for a terrorist attack on an Israeli tourist coach in Bulgaria that killed up to seven people at an airport on Wednesday.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said Tehran was behind the attack in Burgas near the popular Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach and warned of retaliatory measures aimed at Iran.

"All the signs lead to Iran. Israel will respond forcefully to Iranian terror," he said.

Three buses caught fire after an explosion at around 5.30pm local time ripped through a coach carrying 44 Israeli tourists, including many teenagers They had just landed on a flight from Tel Aviv. More than 30 people were injured.

The blast was confirmed as a terrorist attack linked to the 18th anniversary of Iran's bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, that killed 85 people.

"Eighteen years exactly after the blast at the Jewish community centre in Argentina, murderous Iranian terror continues to hit innocent people," said Netanyahu.

"This is an Iranian terror attack that is spreading throughout the entire world."

Local officials indicated that the attack was by a remote-controlled bomb in the coach's luggage compartment, although some reports suggested a man had boarded the bus, with a huge explosion following immediately afterwards.

One passenger, named only as Shoshi, told an Israeli radio station: "We went through passport control and waiting for us were hotel representatives who put us in buses. We put the bags in the trunk, and after a few minutes, the bus exploded in flames."

Gal Malka, who also survived the explosion, told another radio station: "We sat down and within a few seconds we heard a huge boom and we ran away. We managed to escape through a hole on the bus. We saw bodies and many people injured. The whole bus went up in flames."

Dimitar Nikolov, the mayor of Burgas told the bTV television channel that the attack was caused by "a very strong explosive that was deliberately placed or brought into the baggage compartment". The US condemned the attack, with President Barack Obama saying that his "thoughts and prayers" were with the victims.

Israelis have been targets in recent attacks outside their country, notably in Delhi, India, Bangkok and Thailand.

Israel suspects Iran of being behind these attacks, which have further added to tensions between the two countries, already exacerbated by Israeli warnings against Iran's alleged pursuit of a nuclear weapons programme.

The coach explosion comes after a foiled bomb attack in January on a bus chartered to take Israeli tourists from the Turkish border to a Bulgarian ski resort earlier this year.

The attempt was thought to be linked to Hizbollah, the Lebanon-based Shia Islamist terror group that receives financial and political support from Iran and Syria.

Israeli officials have pointed to the timing of the Bulgarian attack on the anniversary of the July 18, 1994 bombing of the community centre in Buenos Aires. Iran was blamed for that attack and Argentina has issued arrest warrants for several Iranian nationals, including Gen Ahmad Vahidi, the country's defence minister and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards.
 

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