[8] On 5 June 2013, new Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister Kristian Vigenin stated that: "There is no conclusive evidence for the implication of Hezbollah in the July 2012 bombing in Burgas.

"[9] However, two weeks later a Bulgarian representative to the European Union revealed that investigators discovered new evidence that implicates Hezbollah operatives were connected to the terrorist attacks.

[7] In July 2013, the newly appointed Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev stated: "there are clear signs that say Hezbollah is behind the Burgas bombing.

[26] Two days after the attack, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that the bomb was carried in the backpack of a man who was filmed on security cameras at the airport.

[33] On 24 July, Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov said that a sophisticated group of conspirators who spent at least a month in Bulgaria before the bombing were responsible for the terrorist attack, confirming suspicions that the perpetrator was not alone.

Prime Minister Borisov added that DNA samples from the suicide bomber was shared with all partner security services, but no match has been found yet in their databases.

[1] On 16 August, the Bulgarian authorities released a computer-generated image of a suspected accomplice, saying that "There is data that the man is related to the terrorist attack at the airport."

[37] The authorities said that the suspected accomplice may have used various aliases while planning the terrorist attack, and used a fake driving license registered to "Ralph William Rico" from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

[39] In late August, on behalf of the Bulgarian government, Interpol attempted to recruit the help of member nations to identify one of the suspects in the investigation, and posted on its website an image of the alleged accomplice, urging anyone who had information about his identity to notify the authorities.

Interpol described the suspect as having possible Middle Eastern origin, 1.70–1.75 meters tall, and dark brown hair and eyes, who speaks English with an accent.

[17][42] Netanyahu vowed that Israel would "react firmly [to this] global Iranian terror onslaught";[43] Israeli president Shimon Peres promised retaliation against 'Iranian terrorist sites' around the world.

An unnamed senior official told The New York Times that the bomber had a fake Michigan driver's license, but there are no indications that he had any connection to the United States.

[50] However, according to Vladimir Shopov, a political scientist at the New Bulgarian University, "For small Bulgaria to come out and openly name Hezbollah in such a way is as good as entering a minefield.

"[51] On 31 July, a member of the Bulgarian security establishment told The New York Times that there was a "clear direction that points to Hezbollah," in the pattern as well as evidence of the attack.

[51] White House Press Secretary Jay Carney stated, "It is certainly the case that Hezbollah and Iran have been bad actors, as a general matter, but we're not, at this point, in a position to make a statement about responsibility.

[53] On 9 August, The New York Times reported that in the two months leading up to the terrorist attack, Israel's intelligence services intercepted numerous phone calls between Burgas and Lebanon, which increased significantly three days prior to the bombing.

[59] On 21 July, an unknown group called "Base of Jihad" claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement that appeared on a Lebanese news site.

[60][61] A few days after the attack, Bulgarian news sources published information alleging that the bomber was a Swedish citizen and former captive at Guantánamo Bay, Mehdi Ghezali.

[62][63] In early October 2012, the Bulgarian daily 24 Chasa gained access to an interview with a radical Salafi militant leader, Omar Bakri, who said that he recognized the suspect as being Mehdi Ghezali.

[68][69] The office of the Chief Mufti, Bulgaria's principal Muslim leader, condemned the terrorist attack and expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.

[74] Two days after the attack, Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet agencies had teams on the ground in Bulgaria to assist the authorities in identifying the perpetrator.

A second Israeli C-130 landed in Sofia, carrying Magen David Adom specialists to evaluate the remaining wounded, and to judge whether it was safe to fly them home.

[77] The Washington Post's editorial page on 20 July contained an editorial headline "Holding Iran accountable for terrorist attacks," in which The Washington Post said that Iran must suffer for its acts of global terrorism, and "The Security Council should review the abundant evidence of involvement by the Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah in this year's attacks and punish both those groups as well as the Iranian government with sanctions."

The newspaper wrote "Using the territory of countries across the world, working sometimes through proxies like Lebanon's Hezbollah and sometimes with its own forces, Tehran has been intentionally targeting not just diplomats of enemies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia but also civilians.

[77] Mayor Yordanka Fandakova of Sofia ordered a stronger police presence at all public places linked to the Jewish community, which numbers about 5,000.

Mossad and Shin Bet officials convened a meeting on the same day to discuss future coordination and to assess the threat level in various countries throughout the world.

[82] Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance, and blood bank service, sent delegations to Bulgaria to help treat the wounded.

[84] Bulgaria's youngest-ever parliamentarian, Kalina Krumova, then 27, rushed to the hospital in jeans and sandals where the injured were being treated, and stayed there during the entire night alongside the Israeli aid teams.

"[88] On 25 August, Bulgarian Energy and Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev said that the flow of tourists to Bulgaria from Israel returned to normal, despite the terrorist attack causing a temporary decrease.

[92] At the ceremony, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) said that it would include the family of Mustafa Kyosov, the Muslim bus driver who was killed in the attack, among recipients of aid from the Fund for the Victims of Terror.