Iraqi protesters flooded the streets on Sunday to denounce both Iran and the US as "occupiers", angry that fears of war between the rivals was derailing their anti-government movement. For three months, youth-dominated rallies in the capital and Shia-majority south have condemned Iraq's ruling class as corrupt, inept and beholden to Iran.
Following a US strike on Baghdad Friday that killed top Iranian and Iraqi commanders, Iraqi lawmakers urged the government Sunday to oust thousands of US troops deployed across the country.
For protesters who were hitting the streets, Iran was also a target for blame.
"No to Iran, no to America!" chanted hundreds of young Iraqis as they marched through the southern protest hotspot of Diwaniyah.
Young children present carried posters in the shape of Iraq and waved their country's tri-colour.
"We're taking a stance against the two occupiers: Iran and the US," one demonstrator told AFP.
Nearby, a teenage girl held a handwritten sign reading: "Peace be on the land created to live in peace, but which has yet to see a single peaceful day." Iraqi helicopters circled above, surveying the scene. Relations between Tehran and Washington have been deteriorating since the US abandoned a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and reimposed crippling economic sanctions.
But tensions boiled over during the last week, culminating in a US drone strike outside Baghdad international airport that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and several Iraqi paramilitary leaders.
Some protesters initially rejoiced, having blamed Soleimani for propping up the government they have been trying to bring down since early October.
But joy swifty turned to worry, as protesters realised pounding war drums would drown out their calls for peaceful reform of Iraq's government. In a bold move, young protesters in the southern city of Nasiriyah blocked a mourning procession for Soleimani and top Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis from reaching their protest camp.
Outraged pro-Iran mourners fired on the protesters, wounding three, medical sources told AFP.
"We refuse a proxy war on Iraqi territory and the creation of crisis after crisis," said student Raad Ismail.
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