At the country’s parliament on Sunday, hundreds of supporters of influential Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr protested against political corruption for a second day.
After tearing down large concrete barricades on highways leading to Baghdad’s guarded Green Zone of diplomatic and administrative buildings, they stormed the complex on Saturday in spite of tear gas, water cannons, and searing temperatures that reached 47 degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit).
At least 100 demonstrators and 25 security officers were harmed in the altercation, according to the health ministry. Despite extensive negotiations between groups, Iraq remains without a new administration nearly ten months after the October elections.
According to analysts, Sadr, a volatile imam who formerly led a militia against Us because Iraqi government forces, is utilising street demonstrations to convey that his opinions must be taken into consideration when a new administration is formed. The European Union and the United Nations both issued warnings about rising tensions.
The selection of senior cabinet minister Mohammed al-Sudani for the position of prime minister by a rival Shia party that is pro-Iran served as the immediate catalyst for the occupation.
The protesters celebrated the Muslim month of Muharram on Sunday morning with religious chants and a group feast.
