Protesters, some of them holding flags of pro-Iranian armed groups, threw stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas grenades.
This Sunday, hundreds of protesters tried to invade the high security zone that houses the United States embassy in Baghdad, after the death of the Iranian supreme leader was confirmed. Ali Khamenei.
“The attempts have been frustrated so far, but they continue to try” to break the security cordon, a security source said in a statement to AFP.
Protesters, some of them holding flags of pro-Iranian armed groups, threw stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas grenades, the agency noted.
The local press reported other demonstrations in southern Iraqi provinces.Several Iraqi armed groups backed by Iran declared on Saturday that they would not remain “neutral” and would defend the Islamic Republic.
Among them, the powerful group Kataëb Hezbollah announced that it would attack US bases in response to the death, on Saturday, of two of its fighters in air strikes in southern Iraq.
Early Sunday morning, foth explosions were heard near Erbil airport, which hosts troops from the US-led coalition in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, testified an AFP journalist, who saw a thick cloud of black smoke rising from the airport area.
Shortly afterwards, a small pro-Iranian group claimed drone attacks on American soldiers in Erbil.
On Saturday, US-led coalition forces shot down several missiles and drones loaded with explosives over Erbil, local authorities said.
Iranian state television announced this morning the death of Khamanei in his office on Saturday, as a result of attacks by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic, information that was later confirmed by the Government and other bodies.
US President Donald Trump had earlier announced that 86-year-old Khamanei, who had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, had died in the attacks and appealed to the Iranian people to “recover” the country, after decades of rule by the ayatollahs.
The death of other senior officials was also confirmed, such as the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, General Mohamad Pakpur, and the Secretary of the Defense Council, Ali Shamjani.
A , such as Tabriz (northwest) and Isfahan (center). The attacks have so far caused more than 200 deaths, according to estimates by the Red Crescent, the Red Cross’s counterpart in the West.
