July 20 (UPI) — Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad was attacked by protesters early Thursday, attracting the condemnation of Iraq’s foreign ministry, which instructed security forces to find those responsible and to hold them to account.
Videos, which could not be independently verified, were shared online showing hundreds of protesters outside the embassy where through windows flames could be seen inside while smoke billowed from the building.
Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs Press Office confirmed to UPI in an email that they have been informed of the situation and that all staff at the embassy in the Iraqi capital are safe.
“The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is in regular contact with them,” the office said.
It said it condemns all attacks on diplomats and staff from international organizations and that “attacks on embassies and diplomats constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention.”
“Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff,” it said.
Iraq’s ministry of foreign affairs, in a statement published via Twitter, said it has ordered “an urgent investigation” into the incident and for “necessary security measures” to be taken “to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law.”
It added that the attack is part of a pattern of assaults on diplomatic missions, as it is the second time in less than a month that the embassy has come under siege by protesters.
Late last month, dozens of protesters stormed the compound of the Swedish embassy in response to a protester burning the Quran, Islam’s holiest text, outside a Stockholm mosque.