BERLIN – Bulgarian authorities released new evidence on Tuesday about the amount of explosives used in the alleged Hezbollah bombing of an Israeli tour bus in the Black Sea city of Burgas in July, which resulted in the deaths of five Israelis, their Bulgarian bus driver and the suspected Hezbollah operative.According to Bulgarian media reports, the bomb contained three kg. of TNT explosives.“The final details such as the exact position of the bomber at the time of the explosion will be established by the reenactment scheduled for April 26 at the Ihtiman training ground, when two buses with dummies as passengers will be blown up,” the Sofia News Agency reported.“The bomber attempted to put the explosives in the bus luggage compartment, while others say he stood near the door,” the news agency added from witness accounts.Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry’s Technical Operations Directorate is slated to conduct the bombing exercise.“Soon after [the attack], Iran withdrew its ambassador to Bulgaria, Gholamreza Bagheri Moghadam, and has not appointed a successor yet,” the Sofia News Agency noted.Iran’s government previously denied a diplomatic rift between Iran and Bulgaria over the Burgas report and rejected media reports that said Tehran recalled its ambassador.Iran’s state-controlled Fars News reported in February that Iranian career diplomat Abdollah Norouzi will replace Moghadam as Iran’s new ambassador.Moghadam denied Iranian involvement in the Burgas attacks.The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that a Washington Institute for Near East Policy report titled “Hezbollah and the Qods Force in Iran’s Shadow War with the West,” stated, “within days after the explosion in Burgas – while the investigation into the bombing and the search for accomplices was at its height – Bulgarian authorities reportedly caught a Qods Force operative scoping out a synagogue in the country’s capital.”The Qods Force is an Iranian militia responsible for global terrorism, according to the United States.US and Israeli intelligence officials attributed the Burgas attack to a joint Iran- Hezbollah operation. The Islamic Republic of Iran is Hezbollah’s main financial sponsor.Tsvetan Tsvetanov, then- Bulgarian interior minister, announced in February that Hezbollah operatives had been responsible for the Burgas bus attack that killed six. Tsvetanov said the two suspected perpetrators “were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah” and added that investigators had found information “showing the financing and connection between Hezbollah and the two suspects.”The EU’s 27-member body is currently considering an inclusion of Hezbollah on its terror list.
