Iraqi protesters attack Iran consulate in Karbala. How will Tehran respond?
- In Iraq, many demonstrators calling for an overhaul to the political system have pointed at Tehran as its primary sponsor
Dozens of Iraqi protesters attacked the Iranian consulate in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, scaling the concrete barriers ringing the building, bringing down an Iranian flag and replacing it with the Iraqi flag, eyewitnesses said.
Security forces fired in the air to disperse the protesters who threw stones and burned tyres around the building on a street corner in Karbala south of Baghdad.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the incident on Sunday, which comes amid ongoing protests in the capital Baghdad and majority-Shiite provinces in the south.
The protests are directed at a post-war political system and a class of elite leaders that Iraqis accuse of pillaging the country’s wealth while the country grows poorer.
But protesters have also directed their rage at neighbouring Iran and the powerful Iraqi Shiite militias tied to it.
Many demonstrators calling for an overhaul to the political system over the past month have pointed at Tehran as its primary sponsor – a worrying accusation for Iranian officials.
