Thousands of Iraqi protesters attempted to storm the US Embassy in Baghdad's highly secure Green Zone on Saturday, soon after Hezbollah confirmed the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in Friday's major Israeli airstrike in Beirut.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called strike on Nasrallah "a crime that shows the Zionist entity has crossed all the red lines."
The Iraqi PM further condemned the "shameful attack" and hailed the slain Hezbollah Secretary-General as "a martyr on the path of the righteous."
Soon after, thousands of angry Iraqis showed up near the US Embassy complex in Baghdad, with Hezbollah flags and large images of Nasrallah. They clashed with Iraqi police in riot gear.
Local correspondents described that the group was mainly comprised of supporters of Shiite factions, and they weren't able to get close to the heavily fortified embassy.
A journalist from regional outlet Shafaq News reported, "The protesters are attempting to breach the Green Zone and storm the US Embassy to express their anger over the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah."
A security source told the publication that "security forces closed the roads leading to the bridge amid a heavy presence of law enforcement forces."
Both US and Israeli embassies across the globe are on high alert given rapidly escalating events in Lebanon. As for the US Embassy in Baghdad, it is one of the most highly protected in the world, given it not infrequently comes under rocket and mortar attack.
The US Embassy in Beirut is meanwhile starting to evacuate non-essential personnel and their family members while it is still relatively safe and possible to get a flight out of the country.
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