BASRA, June 14: A crowd accusing Iranian television of insulting an Iraqi cleric attacked Iran’s consulate in the city of Basra on Wednesday, setting fire to an annex of the compound, Reuters television footage showed.

Hundreds of protesters outside the consulate chanted slogans against an Iranian satellite station which they said had aired a programme slandering prominent Shia cleric Mahmoud al-Hasani, who has many followers there.

Thick smoke billowed near the newly-opened complex in Iraq’s second city, which is patrolled by British forces.

One demonstrator climbed up the roof of a building in the compound and hoisted an Iraqi flag, a Reuters cameraman said.

A cleric who addressed the crowd outside demanded an apology from the Iranian government.

“If our demand is not met we will not be able to hold back these angry crowds,” Ahmed al-Budairi, an aide of Hasani, told the demonstrators.

Basra has seen a deterioration in security over the past year as rival Shia groups tussle for power. Residents say militias rule the streets.—Reuters