BAGHDAD — Iraqi protesters in the southern city of Najaf burned down the Iranian Consulate there on Wednesday night in an outburst of anger at Iran, witnesses said.
The government imposed a curfew until further notice.
Video showed sizable crowds outside the consulate shouting and waving Iraqi flags.
This was the second attempt in a month by protesters to burn the consulate. In the first attempt, early this month, Molotov cocktails were thrown over the consulate walls but the flames were put out and the damage was limited.
It was unclear on Wednesday if anyone was in the consulate at the time of the new attack.
The antigovernment protests, which began nearly two months ago in Baghdad, have also swept through the Shiite Muslim heartland of southern Iraq, which includes Najaf.
The demonstrations began as a demand for jobs and better government services but have broadened into a call for a change in government, which the demonstrators see as corrupt and beholden to Iran. Many of the political parties who dominate the Iraqi Parliament have ties to Iran.