Iran Expresses Grave Concern over Recent Incidents in Iraq

In a statement on Friday, Khatibzadeh said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported the security, stability and territorial integrity of Iraq, and strongly rejects any move that threatens these inviolable principles.”

“Iraq is moving towards domestic development and playing an active and constructive role in the region but certain individuals seek to prevent the realisation of such goals in Iraq by carrying out acts of terrorism, fuelling insecurity, and creating crisis,” he added.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tehran believes Baghdad can overcome all these difficulties considering the capacities it has.

“We regard Iraq’s security and stability as an inseparable part of the security and stability of Iran and the region, and will spare no effort to support the friendly and brotherly country of Iraq,” he noted.

At least five civilians lost their lives and nearly two dozen others sustained injuries in a powerful blast near a marketplace in the al-Habibiyah area of Sadr City in the eastern flank of the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad on Thursday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadly attack, but such assaults bear the hallmark of those carried out by remnants of the ISIS Takfiri terrorist group.

Iraqi President Barham Salih condemned the car bomb explosion in Baghdad in a post published on his official Twitter account.

Meanwhile, Hassan Salem, an Iraqi lawmaker affiliated to the anti-terror Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq group, which is part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), said evidence indicates the involvement of Israel’s Mossad spy agency in Baghdad’s car bomb attack as well as the attack on the 30th Brigade of the PMU fighters in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.