A car bomb went off near the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least one civilian and wounding four others, an Interior Ministry source said.

"A car bomb parking some 100 meters away from the Iranian embassy near the Green Zone in central Baghdad, detonated in the morning and killed at least one civilian, wounding four others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Violence persisted in Baghdad in spite of the presence of some 85,000 U.S. and Iraqi security spreading out across the capital for the major offensive aimed at curbing insurgency and sectarian violence in the war-torn country.

Source: Xinhua