After Najaf Consulate Burning, Iran Calls for ‘Firm Response’

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Thursday that the Iraqi government was responsible for protecting diplomatic missions and diplomats in Iraq. This follows Wednesday’s attack on the Iranian Consulate in Najaf. Iraqi demonstrators, protesting against what they perceive to be excessive Iranian influence on the country’s ruling elite, stormed and set fire to the consulate building. The consulate staff was evacuated beforehand, according to Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Mousavi said that Iran “strongly condemned” the attack and called on Iraq to apply a “firm response to the aggressors.” Iraqi police sources say one protester was killed and at least 35 were wounded when security forces fired into the crowd. Following the attack on the consulate, Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew on the city.