Reports of the attack differed widely. The regime of Syrian President
Bashar Assad denied that any attack took place, saying three people
were killed when a tire of an Iranian bus exploded.
"An investigation showed that no act of a terrorist nature was behind
the explosion," Syrian Interior Minister Said Samour said.
But the Iranian state-controlled media said at least 12 of the
casualties were Iranian pilgrims. The official Iranian news agency, Irna,
said many other pilgrims were taken to a nearby hospital and security forces
sealed the area.
The bombing, which took place during the visit by Iranian chief nuclear
negotiator Said Jailil, marked the first insurgency strike in Damascus in
nearly a year. Al Qaida-aligned bombings rocked the Syrian capital in late
2008. In September 2008, 17 people were killed in a suicide car bombing near
Syrian intelligence headquarters.
The Syrian opposition said the explosion took place about two kilometers
from a leading Shi'ite shrine in Damascus, Sayedah Zainab. The opposition
said the bomb was so powerful that nearby buildings were heavily damaged.
The opposition Reform Party of Syria said Iran might have masterminded
the attack in an attempt to pressure Syria against a reconciliation with the
West. Another scenario was that the Palestinian movement Hamas carried out
the attack amid a Syrian effort to prevent a realignment with Saudi Arabia.
"Whether Iran, Israel or Hamas are behind the blast, Assad is the loser
in all three scenarios," RPS said. "How he responds and against whom will be
known soon. It is expected that Iran will respond by sending another
delegation to Damascus, which will certainly change Jalili's original
agenda."