DAMASCUS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A bomb targeted at a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims near a major Shi'ite religious shrine in Damascus on Thursday killed at least six people, witnesses said.

"Body parts are still scattered around the bus," one of the witnesses told Reuters. Several more people were wounded in the explosion in the Sayyeda Zainab area in Damascus.

Syrian security forces deployed in the area, a popular destination for Shi'ites from Iran and Lebanon, and were investigating the blast.

The bomb attack took place as Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, was visiting Damascus for meetings with Syrian officials.

Syria has been hit by bomb attacks in recent years. A car bomb attack on a security complex near Damascus airport killed 17 people in September 2008. That attack was blamed on Lebanon-based Islamist militant group with links to al Qaeda.