In the early hours of Thursday morning, a large number of protesters in central Baghdad forcefully entered the Swedish embassy, climbing its walls, and setting the building on fire. The protest was in response to the scheduled burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden.
The Swedish foreign ministry press office confirmed that all embassy staff in Baghdad were safe and issued a statement condemning the violent incident. They emphasized the importance of Iraqi authorities taking measures to safeguard diplomatic missions.
The demonstration on Thursday was organized by followers of cleric Muqtada Sadr, who were expressing their opposition to the second planned Quran burning in Sweden within a few weeks. The information about the protest’s call came from posts in a popular Telegram group associated with the influential cleric and other pro-Sadr media outlets.