At least 14 people were killed in Iraq Tuesday in deadly blasts including one targeting a U.N. convoy carrying the world body's chief diplomat in the country.
One Iraqi policeman was killed in the convoy bombing and two others were seriously wounded. The convoy in Najaf was transporting the top U.N. diplomat in Iraq, Ad Melkert, a Dutch citizen, who was not harmed.
The deadliest bombing was in the northern city of Tikrit, where authorities say bombs exploded outside of the home of a high-level security official, Lieutenant Colonel Qais Rashid, killing 11 people. Investigators say many of those killed were the officer's family members, including at least one child.
Another bomb went off at a checkpoint in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, killing two police officers and wounding at least two others.
And two so-called sticky bombs ripped through buses carrying Iranian Shi'ite pilgrims in Baghdad, wounding at least 12 people in two separate incidents.
Officials said the first bus bomb wounded eight people when it detonated while the bus traveled down al-Sadoun Street in central Baghdad. The second bomb blew up in a separate neighborhood, wounding at least four passengers.
The attacks come one day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Tehran, meeting with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mr. Maliki has been seeking regional support for his bid to stay in power following inconclusive parliamentary elections in March.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.