Pro-Iran protesters leave US embassy compound in Baghdad

Protesters withdrew from the United States embassy perimeter in Baghdad after the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) paramilitary force ordered them to leave, a day after their dramatic demonstration.

Iraq’s military confirmed on Wednesday that the protesters had left.

On Tuesday, thousands of Iraqi supporters of the largely Iranian-trained group had encircled and vandalised the embassy compound, outraged by US air raids in Iraq and Syria that killed 25 Hashd fighters over the weekend.

Angered crowds marched unimpeded through the checkpoints of the usually high-security Green Zone to the embassy gates, where they broke through a reception area, chanting “Death to America” and spraying pro-Iran graffiti on the walls.