Iraq insisted on Monday that its trade with neighbouring Iran was above board, and denied reports that it was helping the Islamic republic skirt sanctions by smuggling oil and secretly moving cash.
A spate of bombings and gun attacks that killed at least 53 people in Iraq overshadowed preparations Friday to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, amid warnings that insurgents could strike again.
Divorces are on the rise in Iraq, official figures show, though the number of couples parting ways is still far lower than the latter years of Saddam Hussein's rule, and marriages much higher.
A wave of violence swept across Iraq Monday, with 111 killed on the country's deadliest day in two and a half years, after Al-Qaeda warned it would seek to retake territory and mount new attacks.
Violence in Baghdad and north of the capital killed at least 37 people on Monday, the country's bloodiest day in three weeks after Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq warned it sought to retake territory.
Rebels seized control of Syria's border crossings with Iraq on the bloodiest day of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, as China and Russia dismayed the West by blocking UN action against his regime.