Yagami Website

Baghdad, Iraq -- A series of three car bombs exploded Tuesday near highly guarded central Baghdad locations, killing four people and injuring 14 others, a Ministry of Interior official said.

The blasts occurred near the fortified "Green Zone," which houses Iraqi government buildings and the U.S. embassy.

The first bomb detonated at about 7:25 a.m. in a parking area near the Ministry of Immigration and Displaced Persons. The second bomb went off near the Iranian embassy, and a third exploded near the Iraqi foreign ministry. All three bombings occurred within minutes of one another, according to the Iraqi official.

Though violence has been on a downturn in Iraq, Baghdad has suffered a recent upsurge, which some officials say are aimed at undermining upcoming elections, now set for March after a lengthy impasse in the country's parliament.

The violence came a week after a string of large-scale and coordinated suicide attacks killed nearly 130 people and wounded more than 400 in the Iraqi capital. Those bombings targeted two government ministries, a Baghdad courthouse, a commercial district and a neighborhood and were the worst since twin car bombings killed and wounded hundreds of people in late October.