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TEHRAN, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Iran said it would call its technicians and engineers back home from the Iraqi northern city of Kirkuk following the deadly attack by Islamic State (IS) militants, reports said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that four Iranian technicians were killed in the attack by the IS militants on a power plant in Kirkuk, official IRNA news agency reported.
Later, Iran's Consul General in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, Sa'adollah Massoudian, said that only three Iranian technicians were killed in the attack, according to Press TV.
Massoudian also put the number of injured Iranian technicians at four, saying that two of them, who had been critically wounded, had undergone surgery in a hospital in Sulaymaniyah and are now in good general health.
Iran's consul said that 80 Iranian workers and technicians had been operating at Kirkuk power station and Iran's consulate general in the city of Sulaymaniyah is taking necessary measures to return them to Iran as soon as possible.
At least 24 people were killed and dozens of others wounded in multiple attacks by IS militants on police compound and other government buildings in Kirkuk on Friday morning.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi expressed deep repugnance and regret over the brutal incident, and offered condolences to the families of the victims, including those of the Iranians.
These blind attacks on defenseless civilians are the signs of the last breaths of terrorists in Iraq and they will be revenged in the battlefields, said the spokesman.
Qasemi said that the consul of the Islamic republic in Sulaymaniyah city of Iraq is probing into the incident and updates will be released about Iranian casualties.
