Supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gather on a road blocked with burning tires during a demonstration in Iraq's southern city of Basra
BAGHDAD —
Iran closed its land borders
to Iraq as flights to the country halted Tuesday amid violence in Baghdad
following an influential Shiite cleric’s announcement he would resign from
politics.
The death toll rose to 20
Iraqis on Tuesday after the unrest erupted the previous day, according to a
senior medical official.
Iraq’s military said four
rockets were launched into the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s
government where armed clashes raged overnight between a militia royal to Iraqi
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi security forces.
Iranian state television cited
“unrests” and “curfew” in Iraqi cities for the reason for the border closures.
It urged Iranians avoid any travel to Iraq while urging Iran’s Shiite pilgrims
in Iraq to avoid further travel between cities.
Iranians urged
to pause pilgrimages
The decision came as millions
of Iranians were preparing to visit Iraq for annual pilgrimage to Shiite sites.
Meanwhile, Kuwait has urged
its citizens in neighboring Iraq to leave the country. The state-run KUNA news
agency also encouraged those hoping to travel to Iraq to delay their plans over
the eruption of violent street clashes between rival Shiite groups in the
country. The tiny Gulf Arab sheikhdom of Kuwait shares a 254 kilometer (158
mile)-long border with Iraq.
Dubai’s long-haul carrier
Emirates stopped flights to Baghdad on Tuesday over the ongoing unrest in Iraq.
The carrier said that it was “monitoring the situation closely.”
It did not say whether flights
would resume Wednesday.
Military
announces curfew
Protesters loyal to cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr, who resigned Monday, pulled down the cement barriers outside
the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed
into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for
Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.
Iraq’s military
announced a nationwide curfew, and the caretaker premier suspended Cabinet
sessions in response to the violence. Medical officials said dozens of
protesters were wounded by gunfire and tear gas and physical altercations with
riot police.
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