Protesters burned down part of the Iranian consulate building in Najaf province in Iraq. The protester in the video says that they have taken down the Iranian flag from the building as well and burned it.
Najaf is the seat of the country’s Shi’ite religious authority. Iranian staff at the consulate escaped through the back and were not harmed.The Iranian flag at the consulate was lowered and the Iraqi flag was raised. A curfew has been imposed by Iraqi police until further notice.
Security officials at first responded to the demonstrations by the consulate by shooting at protesters and then withdrew from the area. About 17 demonstrators were injured in the clashes, according to Al-Arabiya.
Anti-government protests erupted in early October and have swollen into the largest demonstrations since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. A Reuters tally of the dead as given by security and medical sources shows at least 339 people have been killed.
