Were Iranians the Target?
Some see Iranian opposition group Mojahedin-e-Khalgh behind the suicide blasts.
Last week suicide blasts in Baquba and Kadhimiya once again ringed the alarm for resurgence of terrorism. Will al-Qaeda return to Iraq? A deadly attack near Baquba took the lives of 48 Iranian pilgrims. A similar blast by a female suicide bomber at the gates of the tomb of Imam Mousa al-Kazem killed at least 25 Iranians.
The question that comes to mind is whether Iranian pilgrims were target of attacks. The Iraqi government has suspended the police commander responsible for security of the shrine and a number of Kadhimiya security officials have been summoned to Interior Ministry to explain about the strike. However, no official has yet explained why Iranian pilgrims had the highest casualties. Some news sources speculate that the Iranian militant opposition group, Mojahedin-e-Khalgh Organization (MKO), has plotted the attack. This was however rejected by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior who said that he saw al-Qaeda behind the bombings.
In an interview with Iranian Student’s News Agency (ISNA), Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hasan Kazemi Qomi said that the Iraqi government is making serious efforts to identify the masterminds of bombings and find out the role of MKO in the blasts: "the Iraqi government has become seriously active to identify those responsible for the bombings and we hope the results of investigations show who was behind the it". Kazemi rejected the possibility that Iranian pilgrims were the target of suicide attacks. Meanwhile, Nasser Seraj, Deputy Prosecutor-General in Political and Security Affairs has stated that Iran will follow the required legal efforts after bodies of Iranian victims are identified.
The mass killings forced Hillary to make a surprise visit to Iraq. Meeting Iraqi officials for the first time as the secretary of state, Clinton said the violence is a sign that extremists are afraid the Iraqi government is succeeding.
"I think that these suicide bombings ... are unfortunately, in a tragic way, a signal that the rejectionists fear that Iraq is going in the right direction," Clinton told reporters during her unannounced visit to Baghdad.
"I think in Iraq there will always be political conflicts, there will always be, as in any society, sides drawn between different factions, but I really believe Iraq as a whole is on the right track".
Clinton also stated that there are going to be bad days for Iraq but there haven’t been any difficult international situations in the world or history where there hadn’t been bad days.
The question that comes to mind is whether Iranian pilgrims were target of attacks. The Iraqi government has suspended the police commander responsible for security of the shrine and a number of Kadhimiya security officials have been summoned to Interior Ministry to explain about the strike. However, no official has yet explained why Iranian pilgrims had the highest casualties. Some news sources speculate that the Iranian militant opposition group, Mojahedin-e-Khalgh Organization (MKO), has plotted the attack. This was however rejected by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior who said that he saw al-Qaeda behind the bombings.
In an interview with Iranian Student’s News Agency (ISNA), Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hasan Kazemi Qomi said that the Iraqi government is making serious efforts to identify the masterminds of bombings and find out the role of MKO in the blasts: "the Iraqi government has become seriously active to identify those responsible for the bombings and we hope the results of investigations show who was behind the it". Kazemi rejected the possibility that Iranian pilgrims were the target of suicide attacks. Meanwhile, Nasser Seraj, Deputy Prosecutor-General in Political and Security Affairs has stated that Iran will follow the required legal efforts after bodies of Iranian victims are identified.
The mass killings forced Hillary to make a surprise visit to Iraq. Meeting Iraqi officials for the first time as the secretary of state, Clinton said the violence is a sign that extremists are afraid the Iraqi government is succeeding.
"I think that these suicide bombings ... are unfortunately, in a tragic way, a signal that the rejectionists fear that Iraq is going in the right direction," Clinton told reporters during her unannounced visit to Baghdad.
"I think in Iraq there will always be political conflicts, there will always be, as in any society, sides drawn between different factions, but I really believe Iraq as a whole is on the right track".
Clinton also stated that there are going to be bad days for Iraq but there haven’t been any difficult international situations in the world or history where there hadn’t been bad days.