Three killed as Iraq protesters attack Iran consulate in Karbala
At least three Iraqi protesters have been killed during an attack on the Iranian consulate in the Shia holy city of Karbala, according to security sources and a monitor.
Demonstrators reportedly scaled the concrete barriers surrounding the building late on Sunday. They hung Iraqi flags and spray-painted "Karbala is free, Iran out, out!" on them, in a sign of increasing anger among some demonstrators against Tehran's perceived interference in Iraqi politics.
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The demonstrations are rooted in long-standing grievances over poor governance, official corruption and lack of economic opportunity, but have since expanded into demands for sweeping changes and an overhaul of the country's political system, which was established after a US-led invasion in 2003.
The demonstrators have directed their ire at a class of elite leaders whom they accuse of pillaging the oil-rich country's wealth while the population grows poorer.
Protesters have also directed their rage at neighbouring Iran and the powerful Iraqi Shia militias tied to it.
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The US and Iran enjoy significant political and military influence in Iraq, and protesters have accused the political elite of being subservient to one or the other without concern for the needs of ordinary people.
Clashes erupt in Iraq despite Shia leader's call for calm
Fresh clashes between Iraq's security forces and anti-government protesters broke out in Baghdad and across the south of the country on Friday, despite a call for calm by the country's top Shia leader.
Security forces fired tear gas, rubber bullets and threw stun grenades into crowds of protesters gathered at one of the main avenues in the centre of the Iraqi capital on Friday.
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'Won't make a difference'
Protesters, some of whom view al-Sistani as part of the political and religious system they say is the cause of many Iraqis' misery, took little solace from the scholar's words.
"He says he's supporting protests and that we should keep going, but he hasn't helped. The speech won't make a difference either way," said one woman protesting in Baghdad whose son was killed in recent clashes.
"I'm the mother of a student. They took his life," she told Reuters, giving her name as Umm al-Shaheed, Arabic for mother of the martyr.
[... ]
Public anger has been directed particularly towards Iran, which supports the parties and paramilitary groups that dominate the Baghdad government and state institutions.
The protests erupted last month over widespread corruption and lack of jobs, then escalated into calls for the entire ruling system to be up-ended.
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