• Clashes with wounded and tear gas in front of the US embassy in Baghdad. Trump accuses Iran
  • Iraq, new protests after the death of an activist and the attempted murder of a TV comedian
  • Iraq, shoot on demonstrators in Baghdad: at least 16 dead
  • Iraq, president rejects candidate supported by Iran and resigns

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January 01, 2020There is growing tension in Iraq after thousands of pro-Iranian protesters stormed the American embassy in Baghdad. US President Donald Trump has threatened to charge Iran a "high price" after the attack on the diplomatic mission that in memory of the United States evokes the crisis of 40 years ago in which 52 employees of the embassy in Tehran were held hostage for a month and a half during the Khomeinist revolution. "Iran will be held fully responsible for lost lives or damage to our facilities. They will pay a high price!", Warned the head of the White House in a tweet. "This isn't a warning, it's a threat," he added. However, he said he did not expect a war between the United States and Iran. "I don't see that happening," Trump told a reporter who asked him this question.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Mark Esper has announced that around 750 other American troops will be deployed "immediately" to the Middle East "in response to recent events in Iraq." And the American secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said that the attack on the American embassy is the work of "terrorists". "It was orchestrated by terrorists - Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qais al-Khazali - and supported by the Iranian allies, Hadi al-Amari and Faleh al-Fayyad," tweeted Pompeo. "They were all photographed in front of our embassy," he wrote, attaching three images. For its part, Tehran denounced Washington's "surprising boldness". Iraq, allied to the two enemy capitals, was once again the scene of their stalemate, which now risks leading to an escalation until the open confrontation. On Friday evening, a missile attack on Kirkuk's US K1 base killed an American contractor in Iraq. On Sunday evening, American planes reacted by bombing the bases of the Hezbollah Brigades, a pro-Iranian faction in Iraq accused of being responsible for the attack, killing at least 25 fighters and arousing general outrage at the highest level in the Iraqi state. On Tuesday, the funeral procession of the 25 dead led to the assault of the American embassy in Baghdad.