Iran’s deputy interior minister has announced travel between Iran and Iraq is to be restricted after violent unrest in Iraq left at least 15 people dead on Monday.
Protests and clashes in the streets of Baghdad erupted after the influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced his intention to resign from politics.
Officials say dozens more people were injured after protesters loyal to Al-Sadr stormed the presidential palace. A curfew was declared overnight.
Al-Sadr said he was quitting political life due to other Shia groups’ refusal to reform the Iraqi political system alongside him. He has long railed against Tehran’s influence over Iraqi politics and refused to deal with Iran-backed Shia militias and factions, sparking political instability.
On Monday Majid Mirahmadi, the Iranian Ministry of Interior’s deputy for security, and head of the country’s Arbaeen [a Shia holy day in mid-September] headquarters, said: “Due to the unrest in Iraq and curfew regulations, the Iranian embassy in Iraq has issued a notice to prohibit the movement of people within pilgrimage cities."
Today, officials at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport announced the cancellation of some airlines’ outgoing flights to Baghdad from Monday night, effective that evening.
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