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		</div><p>Iran-backed militiamen have withdrawn from the US embassy compound in Baghdad after two days of clashes with American security forces.</p>
<p>But US-Iran tensions remain high and could spill over into further violence.</p>
<p>The withdrawal followed calls from the government and senior militia leaders and ended a high-stakes two-day crisis and practical siege of the largest and one of the most heavily fortified US diplomatic missions in the world.</p>
<p>The attack prompted the Pentagon to send hundreds of additional troops to the Middle East.</p>
<p>In an orchestrated assault, hundreds of militiamen and their supporters broke into the embassy compound, destroying a reception area, smashing windows and spraying graffiti on walls to protest over US air strikes against an Iran-backed militia over the weekend that killed 25 fighters.</p>
<p>The US blamed the militia for a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base in the northern city of Kirkuk last week that killed a US contractor.</p>
<p>The protesters set up a tent camp overnight and on Wednesday set fire to the reception area and threw stones at US Marines guarding the compound, who responded with tear gas.</p>
<p>There were no injuries on either side and no American staff were evacuated from the compound.</p>
<p>The Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella group of state-allied militias – many backed by Iran – called on their supporters to withdraw in response to an appeal by the Iraqi government, saying “your message has been received”.</p>
<p>By late afternoon, the tents had been taken down and the protesters relocated to the opposite side of the Tigris River, outside the so-called Green Zone housing government offices and foreign embassies.</p>
<p>US Apache helicopters circled overhead.</p>
<p><em>“After achieving the intended aim, we pulled out from this place triumphantly,”</em> said Fadhil al-Gezzi, a militia supporter.</p>
<p><em>“We rubbed America’s nose in the dirt.”</em></p>
<p>US Apache helicopters circled overhead.</p>
<p><em>“After achieving the intended aim, we pulled out from this place triumphantly,”</em> said Fadhil al-Gezzi, a militia supporter.</p>
<p><em>“We rubbed America’s nose in the dirt.”</em></p>
<p>Kataeb Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia targeted by the US air strikes, initially refused to leave but later bowed to demands to disperse.</p>
<p>The militia is separate from the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, though both are backed by Iran.</p>
<p><em>“We don’t care about these planes that are flying over the heads of the picketers. Neither do we care about the news that America will bring Marines,”</em> said Mohammed Mohy, a spokesman for Kataeb Hezbollah.</p>
<p><em>“On the contrary, this shows a psychological defeat and a big mental breakdown that the American administration is suffering from,”</em> he said, before withdrawing from the area.</p>
<p>The violence came as Iran and its allies across the region have faced unprecedented mass protests in recent months and heavy US sanctions have cratered Iran’s economy.</p>
<p>Iraq has been gripped by anti-government protests since October fuelled by anger at widespread corruption and economic mismanagement, as well as Iran’s heavy influence over the country’s affairs.</p>
<p>Those protesters were not involved in the embassy attack.</p>
<p>US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for the attack on the embassy and the Pentagon dispatched an infantry battalion of about 750 soldiers to the Middle East.</p>
<p>A US official familiar with the decision said they would go to Kuwait.</p>
<p>Iran denied involvement in the attack on the embassy.</p>
<p>Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted by media as saying that “if the Islamic Republic makes a decision to confront any country, it will do it directly”.</p>
<p>Iran later summoned the Swiss charge d’affaires, who represents American interests in Tehran, to protest over what it said was warmongering by US officials.</p>
<p>Tensions have steadily risen since Mr Trump withdrew the US from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and embarked on a campaign of maximum pressure through economic sanctions.</p>
<p>Iran has responded by abandoning some of its commitments under the deal.</p>
<p>US officials have blamed Iran for the sabotage of oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and a drone attack on Saudi oil facilities in September that caused a spike in world oil prices.</p>
<p>But the Trump administration has not responded with direct military action, apparently fearing a wider conflict.</p>
<p>The US has sent more than 14,000 additional troops to the Gulf region since May in response to concerns about Iranian aggression.</p>
<p>At the time of the attack, the US had about 5,200 troops in Iraq, mainly to train Iraqi forces and help them combat Islamic State extremists.</p>
<p>The US and Iran have vied for influence over Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.</p>
<p>Iran has close ties to Iraq’s Shiite majority and major political factions, and its influence has steadily grown since then.</p>
<p>Iran helped to mobilise tens of thousands of mostly Shiite militiamen to battle so-called Islamic State when it stormed across northern and western Iraq in 2014 as the armed forces collapsed.</p>
<p>The US and Iran both provided vital aid to Iraqi forces, who eventually declared victory over the extremists in December 2017.</p>
<p>The political influence of the Popular Mobilisation Forces has risen in recent years, and their allies dominate the parliament and the government.</p>
<p>That has made them the target of the anti-government protesters, who have attacked Iranian diplomatic missions and the local headquarters of parties affiliated with the militias across southern Iraq.</p>
<p> ;</p>
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