Car Bomb Explodes in Tehran; 20 Die, Scores Reported Hurt

NICOSIA, Cyprus —  A car bomb exploded during the morning rush hour in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and injuring scores of others, Iran’s official news agency reported.

The 8:20 a.m. explosion damaged a bus, four cars and seven motorcycles, injuring their passengers, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency, whose report was monitored in Nicosia. The blast also shattered windows in buildings in the vicinity, the agency said.

It was the second car bombing in Iran in four days. On Saturday a car bomb killed 13 people in the shrine city of Qom, 100 miles southwest of Tehran. So far this year, seven explosions in civilian areas of Tehran have killed 38 people and wounded more than 164.

The agency said that Tuesday’s car bomb blew up in Ferdowsi Square, a main intersection. The news agency said that 50 pounds of TNT had been planted in the car, a Jiyan--a French Citroen manufactured under license in Iran.

The bomb exploded less than 100 yards from the Revolutionary Guards Ministry on one side of the square and a large revolutionary security center on the other side.

No person or group claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The news agency blamed the blast on “agents of international imperialism”--a reference to anti-government underground groups such as the Moujahedeen, Iran’s main opposition group.

However, in a statement issued in Paris after Tuesday’s blast, the Moujahedeen charged that the bomb had been planted by the Iranian government “in order to blemish the image of the Iranian people’s just resistance.”