Reported by PMOI/MEK
Iraq, Sept. 9, 2018 – Protests in Basra, southern Iraq, are the most serious developments during the past years in this oil-rich region.
The Associated Press reported:
“Angry protesters have torched government buildings and offices belonging to the Iranian-backed militias in the weeklong protests demanding improved services and an end to corruption. On Friday night, protesters chanting anti-Iranian slogans including ‘Iran, out, out!’ stormed the Iranian consulate and set it on fire.
“They also burned an Iranian flag and trampled on a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei…
“On Saturday, an Iraqi flag was placed at the entrance to the consulate after the Iranian one was torn down and set ablaze. Sprayed in red on the concrete wall of the consulate were the words:
“Down with Iran, down with the militias, the revolution will continue”
Over 10 demonstrators have reportedly been killed in the Basra protests since Monday in their scuffling with security forces.
Sky News reported thousands of Iraqi demonstrators surrounded the Iranian regime’s consulate in Basra of southern Iraq for hours, storming the site and setting it ablaze. This showed the Iraqi people’s increasing anger over the mullahs’ expansionist policies.
In video footage obtained from the internet, thousands of Iraqi demonstrators are seen torching the Iranian regime’s consulate in Basra and a huge cloud of black smoke covering the entire complex.
Iraqi demonstrators were heard chanting, “The Iranian regime, out, out.” Hundreds of protesters were seen storming inside the complex and setting fire to all the supplies inside the building.
Angry protesters were also seen bringing down the Iranian regime’s flag and raising the Iraqi flag inside the consulate compound in order to show their dissent to the mullahs’ meddling in their country’s internal affairs. Protesters are accusing Tehran of being involved in their poor service conditions and very low living standards in this oil-rich province.
As a result cities in southern Iraq, especially Basra, have been witnessing nearly daily protests. From Monday onward the demonstrations in Basra reached a new level and protesters were seen torching government buildings and other sites belonging to Shiite parties backed by the Iranian regime.
Coinciding with these events two demonstrators have reportedly been killed. The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed to investigate in this regard.
The Security and Anti-Terrorism Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the main Iranian opposition coalition, had warned prior to these developments about the Iranian regime dispatching its deputy Revolutionary Guards Quds Force chief as its new ambassador in Iraq, specifically aimed at continuing and expanding the mullahs’ meddling in Iraq
