Sources in the city of Basra in southern Iraq that a number of missiles fell this morning at the vicinity of the airport of the city, while the authorities lifted the curfew, in conjunction with the decision to coordinate the demonstrations in Basra stop to miss the opportunity to those described by the engineers. The Iraqi parliament is scheduled to hold a meeting today to discuss the crisis in Basra.

An official at the airport said the take-off and landing were continuing as usual and there had been no disruption, with no reports of casualties or damage. It was not known who had carried out the attack.

The correspondent of the island in Basra, Walid Ibrahim, said three or four shells fell near the airport, which takes the US consulate from there, without causing casualties. The correspondent pointed to the arrival of military reinforcements to the city to work to restore calm to it.

This came hours after the announcement of the Basra Operations Command lifted the curfew in the province, which announced last night after the violence in the demonstrations.

In parallel, the Coordination Committee for the demonstrations in Basra issued a statement announcing the cessation of demonstrations throughout the province today, after riots that led to the burning of places not related to the demonstrations.

The committee said in a statement that the situation is heading to chaos because there are delegates from some political parties to distort the march of demonstrations, as well as the presence of those who seek to employ for political and personal gains.

Therefore, the committee decided - to suspend the demonstrations from today to give officials the opportunity to implement the promises announced by the Iraqi government, otherwise the protesters will have the right to return to demonstrate again.

Today, the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr was reopened and all operations resumed after protesters left the port entrance, port officials and government sources said. All the operations have stopped at the port since Thursday after protesters closed the entrance.

Burning the Iranian Consulate in Basra (Al Jazeera)

Stunning escalation
These developments come after a day witnessed a dramatic escalation as angry demonstrators stormed the headquarters of the Iranian consulate in Basra, and set fire to it.

The demonstrators chanted slogans denouncing the role of Iran in the Iraqi political scene. The demonstrators also attacked the headquarters of the Dawa party near the Iranian consulate building, and burned cars parked in front of him.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the burning of the consulate in Basra caused large financial losses, and said that the Iraqi government is responsible for any negligence in the protection of buildings of diplomatic missions.

The ministry also demanded the Iraqi government to disclose the perpetrators and arrest them and impose the most severe sanctions on them, and warned those who want to sabotage the relationship of the two countries.

The Iraqi ambassador in Tehran was summoned to the Foreign Ministry headquarters to inform him of the protest.

"All the staff and diplomats were evacuated from the building before the incursion," the Consular Information Office said.

In this regard, Prime Minister Haider Abadi issued orders to "authorize the security forces to deal firmly with the riots that accompanied the demonstrations and protect public and private institutions and take strong legal measures," according to a statement issued by the Joint Operations Command.

The statement also called on citizens to "move away from any gathering aimed at getting closer to institutions, not gathering and moving groups from one region to another, and adhering to exceptional security recommendations."

In a remarkable development, the Iraqi parliament decided to hold an emergency session today to discuss the crisis in Basra in the presence of the Prime Minister. The call came after calls from political parties and several parties to hold a meeting in parliament and respond to the demands of the demonstrators.

Citizens in Basra during the funeral of one of the martyrs of the demonstrations (Anatolia)

High dead
This comes at a time when the death toll of the protests in Basra to 12 people in less than a week after the Iraqi Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday killed three people at night.

The ministry said in its statement that 50 civilians were injured, including 48 civilians and two policemen. The injuries ranged from gunshots and suffocation, without further details.

Hundreds of Iraqi activists demonstrated in central Baghdad in support of demonstrators in the province of Basra, demanding services and improving the living conditions.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the protesters gathered in Tahrir Square, raised Iraqi flags, chanted slogans demanding the government to respond to the demands of the people of Basra, and condemns the excessive use of violence against demonstrators.