�WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2023) The United States condemns the attack on the embassy of Sweden in Iraq and has offered support support to Swedish officials in the aftermath of the incident, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday.
"The United States strongly condemns the attack on the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad in the early hours of July 20," Miller said.
Officials in Washington remain in contact with their Swedish partners and have offered them support, he added.
Hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad early on Thursday and set it on fire to protest against a planned Quran burning outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, according to media reports.
Swedish police on Wednesday gave a green-light for the Quran-burning protest, scheduled for Thursday, less than a month after another Quran-burning in Stockholm in late June ignited anti-Sweden protests in Baghdad.
Miller stressed that freedom of peaceful assembly is an essential hallmark of democracy but called the attack "an unlawful act of violence."
"It is unacceptable that Iraqi Security Forces did not act to prevent protesters from breaching the Swedish Embassy compound for a second time and damaging it," he added.
The US calls on the Iraqi authorities to honor their international obligations to protect all diplomatic missions in the country against any intrusion or damage, Miller said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has demanded that the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad leave the country because of the Swedish government's repeated authorizations for the Quran burning protests, the Iraqi prime minister's office said on Thursday.
