Angry people set fire to the Iranian consulate in the southern city of Najaf
Baghdad, Tehran … News Time
During a violent protest in Iraq, angry people set on fire the Iranian consulate in the southern city of Najaf. According to Reuter’s news agency, protesters on Wednesday continued to protest on various streets of Najaf, during which clashes with security personnel also took place. Demonstrators reached the Iranian consulate and set it on fire. However, no immediate casualties were reported as a result of the protesters’ actions. Police and civil defense officials say staff had left before protesters approached the Iranian consulate. According to local media, the administration has imposed curfew in the area after the incident.
It should be remembered that protests began in the southern city of Baghdad on October 1 against Iran’s alleged intervention in Iraq and the government’s incompetence. The strongest response so far has been the demonstration by Iranian protesters to the Iranian consulate. Demonstrators say most politicians are corrupt and instrumental of foreign powers, including Iran, and despite the defeat of ISIS in 2017, the government is completely unsuccessful in its efforts to stabilize the country.
900 buildings burned 7 thousand arrested during protests
On the other hand, the Iranian interior minister said that during the recent violent protests in the country, protesters burned 731 banks and 140 government buildings. Interior Minister Abdul Raza Rahmani Fazli said 50 security forces’ offices and checkpoints were attacked during the protests, according to state news agency Arna. About 70 petrol pumps were also set on fire. In Iran, on November 15, mass protests against the government raising petrol prices began, which took place in several cities. Then the protests turned into anti-government protests and during that time the protesters demanded the government to resign.
In this regard, the Iranian interior minister described the loss in a statement on Wednesday. The interior minister has said that more than 2 million people from across the country participated in these violent protests. But the Iranian minister did not say the number of casualties during the demonstrations. Amnesty International, the international human rights organization, said Monday that at least 143 people were killed by police violence on protesters. The Iranian interior minister acknowledged that the clashes between the police and the protesters had led to the deaths and that security personnel were among the dead.
On the other hand, the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission spokesman Hussain Naqvi Hussaini has said that 7,000 people have been arrested in the protests. According to a website called Election, the government officials will release more details about these individuals. However, the high-ranking leader Khamenei has called recent protests a conspiracy and claimed that the United States was involved in the conspiracy. Khamenei was speaking on Wednesday to the Basij force personnel of the revolution.
