At least 28 people have been shot dead by security forces across Iraq as protesters torched the Iranian embassy in the southern city of Najaf.

A curfew was imposed in the city following the incident, which led the Iranian government to demand a “firm response” from its Iraqi counterpart.Businesses and government offices were closed, state media reported.The torching of the consulate escalated violence in Iraq after weeks of mass demonstrations that aim to bring down a government seen as endemically corrupt and backed by Tehran.It was the strongest expression yet of the anti-Iranian sentiment of Iraqi demonstrators, who have taken to the streets for weeks in Baghdad and the Shia-majority south. Iraqi protesters set fire to Iranian consulate in NajafRead More »Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi implicitly criticised the Iraqi government’s failure to prevent the incident.”The Iraqi government is responsible to secure safety of diplomatic missions and diplomats in Iraq… Tehran strongly condemns the attack and demands the Iraqi government’s firm response to the aggressors,” state TV quoted Mousavi as saying on Thursday.Iran’s state news agency IRNA said staff at the consulate, who had evacuated shortly before demonstrators broke in, were “safe and unharmed”.The Iraqi government has condemned the attack.

Sorgente: Iraqi protests: Iranian consulate torched in Najaf as death toll mounts | Middle East Eye

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