US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo strongly condemns attack on US Embassy in Iraq

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: Getty

Mr. Pompeo also emphasized the measures that the Iraqi government should take and reiterated the host country's obligation to protect American diplomatic missions, the US State Department added.

On Tuesday, protesters tried to storm the main gate of the US Embassy in Baghdad, located in the Iraqi capital's "Green Zone," which houses many diplomatic missions and government offices.

Protests near the US Embassy took place immediately after the funeral of members of the Shiite group Kattaib Hezbollah who were killed in a US drone strike. According to initial information, 25 fighters of the Al-Hashd al-Shaabi movement were killed. The Iraqi government strongly condemned this attack by the US government.

For its part, the US said that the decision to bomb was made in connection with "repeated attacks by the Shiite group Kattaib Hezbollah on bases in Iraq". According to the Pentagon, the above attacks were a response to a series of extremist actions by the movement, which resulted in the death of one American citizen and the wounding of four other soldiers in Kirkuk.

On Wednesday, the riots continued, forcing the US military to once again use tear gas against protesters.

Iraqi President Barham Saleh on Tuesday condemned the riots targeting the US Embassy by protesters in Baghdad, calling the actions an "attack on the sovereignty" of Iraq itself.