Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, June 1 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and five others wounded in a car bomb explosion at a parking lot near the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad on Sunday, an Interior Ministry source said.

    "A booby-trapped car, parked at a parking lot in front of the Iranian embassy near the heavily fortified Green Zone, detonated in the morning, killing at least two people and wounding five others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The blast also damaged several nearby civilian cars, the source said.

    The attack came as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was in Baghdad for talks with Iraqi top leaders in the nearby Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government offices and U.S. embassy.