MOSCOW, January 3. /TASS/. Protests outside the US embassy in Baghdad could force President Donald Trump to take steps against Iran, which Washington blames for organizing the riots, but the red line has not yet been crossed, Chairman of the Board of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s Development and Support Foundation Andrei Bystritsky told TASS.
"Apparently, an escalation with Iran could happen. Although now the situation around the embassy is calm, the threat remains, moreover that the forces protesting against the US embassy are rather organized. That’s why it seems to me that there is such a risk and a very serious one," Bystritsky said.
According to the expert, the lives of US citizens were under threat during the protests outside the embassy and the Trump administration was forced to consider this situation very seriously. "If there is no further escalation on the part of those who attacked the embassy in Baghdad probably all this will be limited to words. But if there is at least one reason then Trump will possibly have no choice," he explained.
"Trump won’t be able to allow a situation similar to an incident when an American diplomat died in Libya [the 2012 attack on US consulate in Benghazi-TASS]. He then blamed [former US President Barack] Obama for his hesitation. So, he will have to act," the expert said.
The continuing impeachment process and the upcoming presidential election are encouraging Trump to take decisive actions, Bystritsky said. However, such moves against Iran could trigger serious consequences for the region, and this is a containing factor. "Iran is a serious story. Something may be coming and we just don’t know this and we will find out about this only when it happens. But it seems to me that now this line after which the threat of US decisive steps against Iran would grow has not yet been crossed although the situation is very close to it," the expert noted.
Mass protests outside the US embassy in Baghdad began on December 31 in the wake of a US airstrike a day earlier on the Kata'ib Hezbollah facilities near the Iraqi city of al-Qaim in the vicinity of the border with Syria. At least 25 Shia militias died and 50 others were wounded in this attack. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad was masterminded by terrorists and Iran’s allies.
On January 1, the US military used tear gas to disperse demonstrators who had attempted to set the embassy’s roof on fire, according to Al Arabiya TV channel. The protests ended in the evening and all demonstrators left the area near the US embassy in Baghdad.