When massive protests in Basra turned violent on Sept. 4, several pro-Iran parties in Iraq accused the United States of being behind the violence.
Iranian Mehr News Agency accused Iraqi activists linked to the US Consulate in Basra of rioting, vandalizing property and setting fire to the Iranian Consulate in Basra Sept. 8. The news agency claimed it had exposed an “American network targeting the position of Iran and seeking to divide the Middle East.”