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Iraq: Iranian Embassy Convoy Ambushed | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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BAGHDAD, (AP) – Gunmen ambushed an Iranian Embassy convoy in Baghdad, wounding three Iranians, including two diplomats, and an Iraqi, a spokesman said Friday.

The convoy was en route to a revered Shiite shrine in the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah when it came under fire, Iranian Embassy spokesman Manoucher Taslimi said.

The attack happened at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday as the convoy approached a bridge that links Kazimiyah with the predominantly Sunni area of Azamiyah, according to Taslimi.

He said those wounded, including two Iranian diplomats and an Iranian and an Iraqi administrative employee, were in stable condition.

Iran blamed the United States for the ambush, saying Washington’s threats against Iran encourage terrorist attacks against Iranian interests in Iraq.

“Responsibility for providing security to diplomats as well as diplomatic and international bodies in Iraq rests with the occupiers. The suspicious behavior of U.S. forces in security issues has brought increasing insecurity in Iraq,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Friday in a statement, a copy of which was made available to The Associated Press.

Hosseini said threatening statements by U.S. authorities against Iran were only encouraging militants to carry out terror attacks.

The spokesman said Iran will “seriously pursue this case through Iraqi government officials.”