Police at the scene said that no-one was hurt in the blast, but that they were searching for another suspected bomb. Several civilian vehicles were damaged in the blasts and a fierce fire engulfed the bombed-out car.
The unprotected parking area on Zabidur Street is used by workers and visitors to several Iraqi ministries and to the Iranian embassy, which is protected behind blast walls 50 yards (metres) away.
The area — which is a short distance from the fortified Green Zone — is also used as a staging post for Iraqi police patrols, and Tuesday’s double blasts went off as an Iraqi military convoy was passing.
One person was injured in the first of Monday’s explosions.
