Iran says not behind violent protests at US embassy in Iraq: Foreign Ministry

Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied Tehran was behind violent protests at the US embassy in Iraq on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump said the country was “orchestrating” an attack on the mission.

“America has the surprising audacity of attributing to Iran the protests of the Iraqi people against (Washington’s) savage killing of at least 25 Iraqis...,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement carried on a ministry website.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday blamed Iran for being behind attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad, and defended US airstrikes that killed 25 fighters of an Iran-backed militia in Iraq on Sunday.

“Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will,” said Trump in a post on Twitter.