.Iranian Official Visits Baghdad as Bombings Kill at Least 18
BAGHDAD — On a visit to Iraq on Wednesday, Iran’s foreign minister ruled out holding new security talks with the United States and Iraq, saying improved security made them unnecessary. He spoke on a day when a car bomb and a series of smaller explosions killed at least 18 people here in Baghdad and wounded dozens.
The foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, arrived in Baghdad a day after Iran’s president raised the possibility of direct talks with the United States. Mr. Mottaki’s remarks, however, suggested that Iran was not yet prepared to cooperate with the Obama administration on American operations in Iraq, which Iran bitterly opposes.
“We can say that this government is totally capable of restoring security totally to Iraq,” he said, referring to the Iraqi authorities, during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry. “On this basis, there is no place for such talks under the current circumstances.”
Two hours after the news conference, a bomb hidden in a parked car exploded in a market near one of Baghdad’s busiest bus stations in Baya, a predominately Shiite neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, according to witnesses and American and Iraqi officials. At least 16 people died, and more than 40 were wounded, Interior Ministry officials said.
The bombing was the deadliest in Baghdad since a suicide bomber killed 40 people in an attack on a procession of Shiite pilgrims on Jan. 4.
Despite a strikingly reduced American military presence in Baghdad and other cities in recent months, dozens of American soldiers in armored vehicles arrived swiftly and joined Iraqi security forces in setting up a cordon around the market and terminal.
Sgt. Benjamin Lower, 22, from Los Banos, Calif., said it was the first major attack he had witnessed since he arrived for his second tour in Iraq nearly a year ago.
“To be honest,” he said, “I haven’t seen anything like this in a long time.”
The force of the blast, which an American commander at the scene estimated involved 200 pounds of explosives, hurled the car’s wreckage dozens of yards, where the debris landed on people waiting for buses. “I saw bodies shredded,” said one young man, who would identify himself only as Ameer.
The United Nations special representative in Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, linked the car bombing to the annual Shiite pilgrimage to Karbala to commemorate the end of the mourning period for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites have already begun the pilgrimage, traveling by foot or bus in a journey across Iraq that can take days, even weeks.
The bombing followed at least five smaller attacks by improvised bombs around Baghdad over the course of an unusually violent day. Those attacks were aimed at the police, government officials and Shiite pilgrims, killing at least 2 and wounding more than 20.
In the northern city of Mosul, separate attacks on Wednesday killed four police officers, while a senior leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Ahmed Fatthi al-Jaburi, was assassinated as he left a mosque after evening prayers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mottaki said his visit to Iraq, scheduled to last three days, was intended to deepen political and economic relations between the countries. He also announced the appointment of Iranian consuls in three Iraqi cities: Karbala, Sulaimaniya and Erbil.
He echoed remarks on Tuesday by Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said his country was prepared to test President Obama’s pledge to engage in diplomacy, though he called for “talks based on mutual respect.” Mr. Mottaki said it was up to Mr. Obama to fulfill his campaign pledges, which he said would be “good news.”
Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, also welcomed the prospect of a thaw in American-Iranian relations. “We have welcomed the new trends of the American administration regarding the dialogue with the Islamic republic,” he said.
The two men seemed at odds, however, over the future of the American military mission. The United States has held three rounds of talks on security with Iraq and its neighbors, including Iran, but Mr. Mottaki dismissed them as unnecessary. He also repeated Iran’s calls for a withdrawal of foreign forces, arguing that Iraq should now provide its own security.
Mr. Zebari, however, said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told him that the Americans would not leave hastily.
“We have been reassured by new administration that there will not be a major change or a quick disengagement or a quick pullout from Iraq,” he said.
NYT
If Obama would just surrender today, he could avoid years of controversy and unpleasantness
The foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, arrived in Baghdad a day after Iran’s president raised the possibility of direct talks with the United States. Mr. Mottaki’s remarks, however, suggested that Iran was not yet prepared to cooperate with the Obama administration on American operations in Iraq, which Iran bitterly opposes.
“We can say that this government is totally capable of restoring security totally to Iraq,” he said, referring to the Iraqi authorities, during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry. “On this basis, there is no place for such talks under the current circumstances.”
Two hours after the news conference, a bomb hidden in a parked car exploded in a market near one of Baghdad’s busiest bus stations in Baya, a predominately Shiite neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, according to witnesses and American and Iraqi officials. At least 16 people died, and more than 40 were wounded, Interior Ministry officials said.
The bombing was the deadliest in Baghdad since a suicide bomber killed 40 people in an attack on a procession of Shiite pilgrims on Jan. 4.
Despite a strikingly reduced American military presence in Baghdad and other cities in recent months, dozens of American soldiers in armored vehicles arrived swiftly and joined Iraqi security forces in setting up a cordon around the market and terminal.
Sgt. Benjamin Lower, 22, from Los Banos, Calif., said it was the first major attack he had witnessed since he arrived for his second tour in Iraq nearly a year ago.
“To be honest,” he said, “I haven’t seen anything like this in a long time.”
The force of the blast, which an American commander at the scene estimated involved 200 pounds of explosives, hurled the car’s wreckage dozens of yards, where the debris landed on people waiting for buses. “I saw bodies shredded,” said one young man, who would identify himself only as Ameer.
The United Nations special representative in Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, linked the car bombing to the annual Shiite pilgrimage to Karbala to commemorate the end of the mourning period for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites have already begun the pilgrimage, traveling by foot or bus in a journey across Iraq that can take days, even weeks.
The bombing followed at least five smaller attacks by improvised bombs around Baghdad over the course of an unusually violent day. Those attacks were aimed at the police, government officials and Shiite pilgrims, killing at least 2 and wounding more than 20.
In the northern city of Mosul, separate attacks on Wednesday killed four police officers, while a senior leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Ahmed Fatthi al-Jaburi, was assassinated as he left a mosque after evening prayers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mottaki said his visit to Iraq, scheduled to last three days, was intended to deepen political and economic relations between the countries. He also announced the appointment of Iranian consuls in three Iraqi cities: Karbala, Sulaimaniya and Erbil.
He echoed remarks on Tuesday by Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said his country was prepared to test President Obama’s pledge to engage in diplomacy, though he called for “talks based on mutual respect.” Mr. Mottaki said it was up to Mr. Obama to fulfill his campaign pledges, which he said would be “good news.”
Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, also welcomed the prospect of a thaw in American-Iranian relations. “We have welcomed the new trends of the American administration regarding the dialogue with the Islamic republic,” he said.
The two men seemed at odds, however, over the future of the American military mission. The United States has held three rounds of talks on security with Iraq and its neighbors, including Iran, but Mr. Mottaki dismissed them as unnecessary. He also repeated Iran’s calls for a withdrawal of foreign forces, arguing that Iraq should now provide its own security.
Mr. Zebari, however, said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told him that the Americans would not leave hastily.
“We have been reassured by new administration that there will not be a major change or a quick disengagement or a quick pullout from Iraq,” he said.
NYT
If Obama would just surrender today, he could avoid years of controversy and unpleasantness
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