Tehran, Baghdad Condemn Attack on Iran Consulate in Najaf

By Staff, Agencies

Tehran and Baghdad have both condemned an attack on Iran’s consulate during riots in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf, with the Iraqi government saying the raid was actually meant to damage “historical” ties between the two neighbors.

On Wednesday, subversive groups, under the guise of demonstrations, stormed into the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic mission in Najaf and set it ablaze. They also replaced the Iranian flag with an Iraqi one.

Police and civil defense first responders said the consulate had already been evacuated of its staff.

Speaking on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi expressed disgust at the attack and urged the Iraqi government to “take responsible, decisive and effective action against destructive agents and aggressors.”

Reminding the Iraqi officials about their responsibility to protect diplomats and diplomatic missions, he said, “Iran has officially communicated its strong protest to Iraq’s ambassador in Tehran.”

In a tweet, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani’s special advisor on international affairs, said Saudi Arabia, the “Israeli” entity and the US are behind the unrest in Iraq.

Saudi and American embassies in Iraq, he added, are using the remaining Daesh elements in the Arab country to “defame” Najaf and Karbala.

Similarly, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned the incident in strongest terms, saying the attack had been perpetrated “by strangers ... distant from the reality of demonstrations taking place in a number of Iraqi cities.”

“We believe that its purpose is clear; to harm the historical relations between Iraq and Iran and countries of the world whose missions are in Iraq,” it said in a statement.

The ministry further warned against “the entry of persons who want to divert the demonstrations with the right demands from the seriousness of legal discipline and its proper course. The consulate in Najaf has been exposed to clear evidence of their agendas that are distant from the national demands; we stress the need to secure missions and not to expose those working in them.”

Earlier this month, a group of assailants, under the guise of demonstrations committing acts of banditry and subversive in some institutions, attacked the Iranian consulate in the holy Iraqi city of Karbala, scaling concrete barriers surrounding the building.

Heads of Karbala tribes apologized to the Iranian nation and government over the incident and stressed brotherly relations between the two countries.