Russia reports fresh violence outbreak in Iraq rooted in Syria

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that a new outbreak of violence in Iraq is rooted in the ongoing conflict in Syria. The ministry said in a commentary published on its website that over 500 people have been killed in a fresh wave of tensions in Iraq since the beginning of May, adding that Moscow is "seriously disturbed by" the confrontation and strongly condemns the attacks by militants. The rise of tensions is related to the conflict in Syria, which begins to flow across borders and to assume a regional dimension, it said. Russia calls on all political forces in Iraq to reach a national reconciliation in order to prevent bloodshed, destruction and suffering of the people in the country. The ministry also said that Moscow sees what is happening in Iraq as a partial result of the unresolved political, social and religious conflicts aggravated by the foreign invasion of the country in 2003 and the following civil war. Russia calls for the rejection of violence as a means to achieve political goals, for the solution of urgent and pressing problems of the country by peaceful means via a broad constructive dialogue "in the interests of all political, ethnic and religious forces," said the ministry.