Iran cancels flights to Iraq's Baghdad due to riots: Reports

Tehran: Tehran International Airport has suspended all flights to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad until further notice against the backdrop of a deteriorating security situation in the area, media reported on Monday.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators stormed the Republican Palace in Baghdad's Green Zone, hours after influential Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr announced his final retirement from politics and the closure of all party offices amid threats of his physical elimination. Riots have also engulfed other provinces of Iraq, in the south of the country dominated by the Shiite community . The Iraqi authorities imposed a nationwide curfew from 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT) until further notice.

Meanwhile, the Iranian authorities closed all checkpoints on the land border with Iraq, Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera reported.
Iraq has been facing a political deadlock since the parliamentary elections in October 2021. Al Sadr's political bloc won the elections but reverted to the opposition in May and stepped down in June after several unsuccessful attempts to form a government. (ANI)