In early September of 2018,  Iraqi protesters set fire to provincial government building in Basra. Protesters set a fire inside as part of deadly demonstrations against a lack of services and jobs in which several government buildings have been ransacked and torched. On Friday the Iraqi protesters broke in and began destroying the offices and shouting condemnation of what many Iraqis perceive as Tehran’s interference with Iraqi politics. The consulate was empty when the crowd came in. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Ghassemi said Iranian nationals were not being told to leave Basra.