Three rockets struck the US consulate in Baghdad on Sunday, AFP News reported, in the first attack after months of rising tensions as thousands kept up anti-government protests across Iraq.
A US official confirmed to CNN that at least one of the missiles hit a dining area in the embassy compound. One person was wounded in the attack that no one had yet officially owned up to.
Based on multiple reports, four rockets had made a direct hit on the US Green Zone in Baghdad. Iraqi independent news site Alsumaria News, citing an unnamed insider, disclosed three people suffered light injuries from the attack.
Helicopters were seen hovering the capital where it evacuated some personnel from inside the US consulate, the source said.
The rocket attack signified a deeper escalation in the series of missile attacks in the last few weeks that have targeted US military installations or embassies in Iraq where American combat facilities and servicemen are deployed.
Although no country had officially acknowledged the attack, the US has repeatedly pointed its fingers at Iran and its armed military wings operating in its neighbor, Iraq.
In a statement, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi condemned the attack, and said that the resumption of such atrocities could risk dragging the country into a "battlefield." Widespread demonstrations were reported in the capital, including its southern suburbs of Nassariya.
Iraq has already been dragged into an unsettling animosity between Washington and Tehran over the last month.
Iraqi police and security forces fired teargas and even live ammunition in clashes with rioters furious at rising corruption who resisted with molotov bombs and stones, witnesses and local authorities told Reuters.
The demonstrators are demanding the ouster of what they claim is a corrupt ruling elite and an end to foreign intervention in the country's politics, especially by Tehran, which has a strong influence in the Iraqi government.
Earlier Sunday, hundreds of students took to the streets and massed up at Tahrir Square, chanting slogans against Iran and the US. Over 2,000 students arrived at the southern city of Basra to join in the protests, Reuters reported.
More than 470 people have been reported dead, most of them individuals who have participated in the widespread protests since the rallies broke out.
Demonstrators are now demanding snap elections, the appointment of an independent prime minister and the prosecution of anyone involved in corruption or the recent bloodsheds, Reuters said.
