TEHRAN – The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday censured the deadly terrorist attacks in Baghdad, calling them acts of desperation by Daesh and its supporters who have suffered repeated defeats.

“The Liberation of Fallujah and successive defeats of Daesh at various arenas are leading them and their supporters to take desperate actions and kill the innocent people,” ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

Two separate bomb attacks at a busy commercial street in Baghdad around midnight Saturday left at least 125 killed and 150 wounded.

In the deadliest attack, a car bomb hit Karada, a busy shopping district in the center of Baghdad, killing 78 people and wounding 160, according to police and hospital officials. It struck as families and young people were out on the streets after breaking their daylight fast for the holy month of Ramadan.

According to the Iraqi officials, the death toll could rise as more bodies could be lying under the rubble of devastated buildings.

Daesh, also called ISIL/ISI and IS, claimed responsibility for the bombings in a statement posted online.

Qasemi said Iran will stand beside the Iraqi government and people in these difficult days.

On June 17, the Iraqi forces recaptured Fallujah from Daesh. The city was occupied by the terrorists in January 2014.

In a statement issued by the Iranian MPs on June 21, it is said that “victory” in liberating Fallujah opens new prospect for defeating Daesh in other Iraqi cities such as Mosul and the Syrian cities of Al-Raqqah and Aleppo.

According to new UN figures, acts of violence in Iraq left a total of 662 people dead and 1,457 others injured in June, Press TV reported.

NA/PA