BAGHDAD — Bombs struck a cafe in Baghdad and remote communities in northern Iraq on Saturday, killing at least 18 people, as the visiting Iranian foreign minister warned that Iraq’s instability affected the whole region.
The blasts came just over a week after suicide truck bombers devastated the foreign and finance ministries in Baghdad, killing about 100 people and dealing a blow to confidence in the Iraqi government’s ability to protect the people as U.S. forces scale back their presence.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called on neighboring countries to play a positive role in helping stabilize Iraq.
“The lack of stability and security in Iraq will definitely affect the region,” Mottaki said at a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari.
