Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi security forces moved on Sunday to disperse an angry demonstration by supporters of Shiite armed factions in central Baghdad after they attempted to march toward the US Embassy inside the fortified Green Zone, Shafaq News correspondent reported.

The protest was organized in response to recent airstrikes targeting Iran and followed reports of the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several senior Iranian officials. No immediate reports of casualties were confirmed.Video footage showed riot police pushing crowds away from security barricades, as tensions remained high at the entrances to the presidential compound inside the Green Zone. Security personnel fired tear gas at protesters who tried to cross the Suspension Bridge, which leads to the highly secured diplomatic district where the US Embassy is located.

Similar unrest occurred in late 2019 at the entrance to the US Embassy in Baghdad, shortly before a US drone strike killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in January 2020. At the time, demonstrators breached parts of the embassy perimeter inside the Green Zone, which hosts key Iraqi government offices and diplomatic missions.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that the death of the Supreme Leader “will mark the beginning of a great uprising against the tyrants of the world.” Meanwhile, the Iranian government declared 40 days of national mourning and seven days as an official public holiday in honor of Khamenei, suspending state institutions and public events during the holiday period.