Trump blames Iran for attack on embassy in Baghdad as Iraqi PM urges calm

Fazel Hawramy

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – President Donald Trump has accused Iran of “orchestrating an attack” on the US embassy in Baghdad by angered pro-Tehran-backed militia supporters, while outgoing Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi called on militiamen and their supporters to halt any ‘aggression or harassment’ of the compound. 

Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, angered by Sunday’s US force airstrike on locations of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia. At least twenty-nine militiamen were killed in strikes near al-Qaim, western Iraq.  

Angered protesters stormed the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, burning tyres and reaching within meters of the embassy compound. US marines responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters. 

US officials issued a statement on Facebook alerting American civilians "not to approach" the embassy. 

Several prominent militia leaders loyal to Iran, including Abu Hamdi al-Muhandis, Hadi al-Ameri and Qais al-Khazali were among the militiamen and their supporters who breached the Green Zone on their way to the US embassy.

Thirty-two people have so far been injured while marching for the "martyrs," according to a statement from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic).

“Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will,” President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday afternoon local time.  “Now, Iran is orchestrating an attack on the US Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”

The five locations targeted by Sunday’s airstrikes were weapon storage facilities and Command and Control locations in Iraq and Syria. Washington said the strikes were a response to a December 27 attack on K-1 base near Kirkuk which killed one US civil contractor, and wounded a number of American and Iraqi soldiers.

The Iraqi government, the clerical establishment, and Shiite militia forces have condemned the attack, with some voices calling for the expulsion of the American soldiers.

“We kicked the Americans out by force but the Americans find an excuse , they get out of the door but re-enter through the window. We will not leave this issue and we will consult with other resistance groups,” Abu Alaa al-Walai of the Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada militia told Rudaw outside the US embassy on Tuesday.

“We will have a response, this is not like previous occasions, without a doubt, our response will be a military response and we will avenge the martyrs.”

Three months earlier, al-Walai - a staunch Iranian ally – warned of the precarity of American soldier presence in Iraq.

“I say it loud and clear that the Americans are POWs on suspended sentences, they are hostages on a suspended sentence, if a war breaks out, the Americans will definitely be taken hostage by the resistance factions,” he said.

Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi on Tuesday declared three days of mourning for the Kataib Hezbollah fighters and called on protesters to leave the US embassy.

"We ask everyone to immediately leave these places," Abdul-Mahdi said. "Any aggression or harassment of foreign embassies and representatives is an act that is strictly prohibited by the security forces and will be punished by law with the most severe penalties." 

The US ambassador and other staff have been evacuated from the embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad as protests rage outside, two Iraqi Foreign Ministry officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

However, US officials told various media outlets that staff have not been evacuated, but  the embassy is on lockdown.

Peter Stano, European Union spokesperson for external affairs called on Iraqi authorities to protect diplomatic missions in Iraq.