U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran of orchestrating the violence and said Tehran would be held responsible. More U.S. troops were being sent to the embassy, U.S. officials said, according to Reuters. A State Department spokesperson said reports from Iraqi officials that the ambassador had been evacuated were false. The envoy, Matt Tueller, had been on previously scheduled personal travel and was returning to the embassy, the official said. There were no plans for an evacuation. The demonstration shifted the focus of the mass protests away from the government and pro-Iran militias, and on to the United States. U.S. air strikes on Sunday on Iranian-backed militia bases of Kataib Hezbollah militia, responded to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base. "Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will," Trump said in a tweet. "Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible." Iraqi special forces were deployed around the main gate to prevent protesters entering. U.S.-trained and -equipped Iraqi Counter Terrorism forces later reinforced them. Iraqis have been taking to the streets in their thousands almost daily to condemn, among other things, militias such as Kataib Hezbollah and their Iranian patrons that support Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's government. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Abdul-Mahdi and President Barham Salih by telephone from Washington and said they had guaranteed the safety of U.S. personnel and property. "The Secretary made clear the United States will protect and defend its people, who are there to support a sovereign and independent Iraq," a State Department spokeswoman said.
