Iranian oil officials attacked in Baghdad

Gunmen opened fire on a visiting delegation of Iranian oil officials in Baghdad on Wednesday, wounding two Iraqi guards but the foreigners were unharmed, an interior ministry official and the oil ministry in Tehran said. "Gunmen fired on an oil ministry convoy carrying Iranian oil officials in the centre of Baghdad," the Iraqi official said. "No one in the delegation was hurt but two Iraqi guards protecting the convoy were wounded." In Tehran, the oil ministry's Shana news agency confirmed the attack, saying the country's deputy oil minister was part of the delegation. "The Iranian delegation's vehicle on Wednesday was fired on, after they finished negotiating with Iraqi oil officials and were on their way to the electricity ministry," the report said. "All of the Iranian delegation, headed by deputy oil minister Ali Reza Zeighami, are safe and healthy," the agency reported. "The attack did not cause any disruption in the delegation's plan and currently they are in another negotiation session," it added. The attack came two days after a roadside bomb exploded next to French embassy car in southern Baghdad. Four French security personnel inside the armoured vehicle were unhurt, but seven Iraqis were wounded. Violence in Iraq has plummetted since peaking in 2006 and 2007, but attacks have been surging in recent months, especially against officials, government institutions and security forces. In other bomb and gun attacks attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq on Wednesday three people were killed and 28 wounded, 12 of them policemen.