An al-Qaida-linked group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for Sunday's three car bombs targeting foreign mission in Baghdad which left at least 30 dead.

The "Islamic State of Iraq" said in the statement posted on a website that it was the fifth wave of attacks since the second half of last year.

The coordinated bombings, which also wounded nearly 300 others, struck the Iranian embassy, the Egyptian embassy and the residence of the German ambassador.

The group said that "all diplomatic corps, embassies and international political organizations" that deal with the Iraqi government are its "legitimate targets."

But it denied its role in Tuesday's seven blasts which targeted apartment buildings in the capital. At least 35 were killed and more than 140 others injured in the latest string of attacks.

The Iraqi government has repeatedly blamed the remains of al- Qaida and the loyalists of the Saddam Hussein regime for the series of coordinated attacks in recent months.

"We are in a state of war with the remnants of terrorists from al-Qaida and loyalists of the former regime," Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command said Tuesday.

The Islamic State of Iraq is reckoned as the most important Sunni insurgent group that is still active in Diyala and Baghdad.