Iran and Saudi Arabia will hold fresh rounds of talks in the coming days, with the next to be held in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Amer al-Fayez, a member of the international affairs committee in the Iraqi parliament, told Sputnik on Tuesday

The United States supports talks between the Middle East rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia though Washington's stance has nothing to do with the diplomatic process reportedly taking place in Iraq, Acting US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joey Hood said on Monday

The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on its consulate in the Iraqi city of Karbala and urged Baghdad to beef up protection of diplomatic missions, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.

Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, head of the UN investigative team to promote accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia) in Iraq, said on Monday that the crimes against the Yazidis constitute genocide