Protesters set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad | Iraq

The Swedish Foreign Ministry said embassy staff were “safe”. A ministry spokesman said the Iraqi authorities had a responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and personnel. Sweden therefore considers the attack a violation of the Vienna Convention, which lays down the rules for diplomatic relations.

The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the raid and said in a statement that the Iraqi government had ordered the security forces to conduct a rapid investigation, identify the perpetrators and hold them accountable.

Videos posted on a popular Telegram channel supporting al-Sadr show people gathering at the embassy on Thursday and storming the building’s compound shortly thereafter. Other videos show smoke rising from a building on the embassy grounds. Images have not been independently verified.

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Several media reports said that the Stockholm police allowed a demonstration in front of the Iraqi embassy where a new Quran was to be burned. Sadr called late last month for protests against Sweden and expelled the Swedish ambassador after an Iraqi man burned a Koran in front of a mosque in Stockholm.

In the aftermath of the burning of the Qur’an, two large demonstrations took place outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad. During one such demonstration, protesters entered the embassy grounds but did not enter the embassy building itself.