With Iraq reeling from a third wave of bombings on Tuesday, the investigations as much as the attacks themselves have undermined public faith in the government by exposing the deep divisions within Iraq’s security forces. After months of wrangling over an election law, fighting spurred by deep ethnic divisions, the public has come to view security as little more than an extension of politics.

“American terrorism is the source of every terrorism in the world,” Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech from an undisclosed location.

It was his first address since a unity government formed in Lebanon this month, ending a crisis that had left the country with no government since June’s parliamentary elections.

Hezbollah, a political party in Lebanon, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. Nasrallah does not appear in public amid concerns for his safety.

The attack, which killed the deputy commander of the guard’s ground forces, General Noor Ali Shooshtari, and Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh, the provincial commander for Sistan-Baluchistan, inflicted Iran’s worst military casualties in years and raised questions of intelligence and security failures in a region long blighted by a violent Sunni insurgency.

A Sunni group, Jundallah (”soldiers of God”), claimed responsibility and said it was a response to “the constant crime of the regime in Baluchistan”. It named the bomber as Abdol Vahed Mohammadi Saravani.

“Iran’s proposal … has been approved in the meeting,” said Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, on the sidelines of the week-long General Conference in Vienna.

Considered the highest policymaking body of the IAEA, the General Conference meets annually to consider issues such as non-proliferation, nuclear safety, nuclear safeguards and nuclear security.

The general conference in 1990 passed a resolution banning “all armed attacks against nuclear installations devoted to peaceful purposes whether under construction or in operation.”

Iranian-American correspondent Bigan Saliani and producer Richard O’Regan traveled to Iran to explore the tensions between the expectations of many highly educated young Iranian women and the realities of their lives.

For more coverage of women in Iran, visit our Women in Islam extended coverage page.

It was the first known assassination attempt against a member of the royal family since Saudi Arabia began its crackdown on al Qaeda affiliated militants eight years ago following the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

The militant who attacked the assistant interior minister, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, late Thursday at the Ramadan gathering in Jiddah had previously expressed his intention to give himself up to the official, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the royal court as saying.

The Caspian Airlines aircraft was carrying 153 passengers and 15 crew, Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for Iran’s aviation organization, told state television.

Although “several” of the employees have since been released, some remain in custody, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The BBC reported that five had been freed but that it was unclear how many were still being held.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband branded the detention of employees at the British embassy “completely unacceptable”, while the EU warned of a “strong and collective reponse” to harassment.