Dozens of Basra activists arrested
Shiite militias in Basra arrested dozens of civil rights activists for participating in demonstrations and accused the US Consulate of instigating the demonstrations.
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.”
