一名伊拉克情报官员和五角大楼高级官员告诉记者，伊朗政府在组织示威游行进入美国驻巴格达大使馆方面发挥了直接作用，这次暴力示威游行不同于席卷伊拉克的抗议活动新闻周刊。

一名伊拉克情报官员告诉记者新闻周刊示威“不是伊拉克起义”

这位不愿透露姓名的官员说，“这不亚于IRGC圣城军的军事计划”——指的是卡西姆·苏莱曼尼指挥的伊朗精英革命卫队的精英远征分支，因为他们无权公开讨论。这名官员说:“他们不仅对美国士兵和平民发动战争，而且最重要的是，他们对反对什叶派伊斯兰国的贫穷无助的伊拉克公民发动战争。”。

五角大楼一名高级官员表示，“军事行动”一词“过于强硬”，无法形容大使馆发生的事情，并称这种情况为“试探性行动”，不同于自10月25日以来席卷全国的那种“有机起义”，在这种起义下，伊拉克人焚烧了伊朗外交大楼，以抗议伊斯兰共和国日益增长的影响力。

然而，这位官员说，大使馆的抗议者“受到伊朗人的直接影响、策划和煽动”

这位官员说，“重要的是要明白，这可能是900个白痴和10个煽动者”，就像普通伊拉克人和那些被外部力量动员起来的人的“混合体”。

伊朗外交部发言人阿巴斯·穆萨维在一份声明中否认德黑兰在示威中扮演任何角色，称这些指控是“对伊拉克人民的公然侮辱”，他说伊拉克人民把美国视为“占领者”

12月31日，在一次集会上，挥舞着卡塔伊真主党旗帜的伊拉克人民动员部队民兵试图突破美国驻伊拉克首都巴格达外交使团的外墙，该集会旨在发泄对周末空袭造成伊拉克西部亲伊朗战士死亡的愤怒。

随着美国和伊朗在该地区的不和加剧，这是最近的一次冲突。上周五，伊斯兰共和国的亲密盟友卡塔伊卜真主党发动了一场攻击在伊拉克北部基尔库克的K-1空军基地，炸死一名国防部承包商，炸伤美国和伊拉克人员。作为回应，美国飞机在接下来的周日轰炸了伊拉克和叙利亚边境地区的几个什叶派穆斯林民兵阵地，杀死了数十名战士，包括伊拉克情报人员和五角大楼高级官员所说的话新闻周刊多达三名伊朗特种部队人员。

这些单方面的袭击受到了伊拉克政府和有影响力的各界高层官员的谴责。周一为被杀害的卡塔伊真主党战士举行了葬礼游行，他们在国家支持的人民动员部队(也称为哈希算法向美国驻绿区大使馆行进，并设法冲破大门，对使馆造成严重破坏。

他们的要求包括关闭美国驻伊拉克大使馆，这个国家长期以来在华盛顿和德黑兰的利益之间摇摆不定，对外国影响感到厌倦。尽管伊拉克人已经开始公开质疑伊朗的存在，但最近的空袭也加快了要求确定美国撤军时间表的呼声。

“我对2019年的预测是，美国军队将留在伊拉克，”大西洋理事会伊拉克倡议负责人阿巴斯·卡希姆告诉记者新闻周刊。“我是对的，尽管当时通过一项撤军法律的势头很大。”

“在发生这些事情后，我对2020年的预测是，美军几乎不可能留在伊拉克。我是在美国大使馆周围做出这一预测的，不仅仅是军队，还有美国的外交存在，”他补充说，但他指出，这“并非不可避免”，即使华盛顿和德黑兰自己的争端似乎难以解决。

周一抗议的戏剧性场面让人想起1979年接管华盛顿驻德黑兰大使馆的情景。伊斯兰革命推翻了中央情报局支持的君主制，袭击了美国大院，扣押外交官为人质达444天。特朗普去年决定退出与德黑兰的多边核协议并实施严厉制裁，这引发了长达数十年的竞争。

形势只是在2019年变得更糟。除了袭击阿曼湾的油轮和沙特阿拉伯的石油设施之外，美国还指责伊朗直接下令对与美国在伊拉克的长期存在有关的军事设施发动火箭袭击，2003年的入侵为逊尼派和什叶派穆斯林民兵的决斗铺平了道路。后者在2017年击败伊斯兰国激进组织伊斯兰国(ISIS)后取得决定性胜利，与伊朗关系密切的组织如卡塔伊卜真主党享有相当大的权力。

12月31日，美国陆军AH-64阿帕奇直升机从第34战斗航空旅第227航空团第1营飞越美国驻伊拉克巴格达大使馆。直升机发射信号弹以示存在，同时为抗议者提供额外的安全和威慑。

尽管如此，在一个饱受数十年冲突困扰的国家，人们越来越担心美国大使馆可能会爆发成下一个战区，正如国防部长马克·埃斯珀周二在一份声明中所说，美国正在派遣“额外部队支持我们在大使馆的人员”第七海军陆战队第一营至少有120名海军陆战队士兵星期二抵达巴格达。第七海军陆战队是一个步兵单位，被分配到美国中央司令部下属的一个特殊目的特遣部队。

“我们的首要任务是美国人员的安全和保障，”一名国务院发言人告诉记者新闻周刊。“美国人员是安全的，没有违规行为。没有撤离巴格达大使馆的计划。”

美国驻巴格达大使馆于2009年建成，造价约为7.36亿美元，占地104英亩，根据国会研究服务局的数据，在人员规模和预算方面是美国最大的大使馆之一。

国防部一名高级官员告诉记者新闻周刊周二，大使馆举行了“武力保护查理”，这是一个军事术语，指的是在美国军队附近发生恐怖主义或敌对行为事件时，或者在收到情报表明可能发生针对国防部人员或设施的敌对行为或恐怖袭击时适用的武力保护级别。

美国国务院发言人否认美国驻伊拉克大使马特Tueller已经撤离，而是声称他“已经进行了一周多的个人旅行”，并将“返回大使馆”

发言人继续说:“伊朗支持的在美国大使馆前的示威不应与伊拉克抗议者混淆。自10月以来，伊拉克抗议者一直走在街头谴责伊朗政权向伊拉克出口的腐败行为。”。“我们已经明确表示，美国将保护和捍卫其人民，他们在那里支持一个主权和独立的伊拉克。”

然而，卡希姆表示，“我们不能把这当成亲伊朗的行动”，尽管“他们是最大的受益者”他说，他认为对K-1空军基地的火箭袭击是“美国的陷阱，美国吞下诱饵，美国回击而不是接受黑眼圈”

“从长远来看，在地面上，他们轰炸了自己的利益，”卡希姆说。“我不知道到底是谁建议美国政府轰炸哈希人并杀死他们，但这个人应该被解雇。”

“美国失去伊拉克的痛苦甚至比不上伊拉克失去与美国的牢固关系的痛苦，”他补充说。"伊拉克还没有消失，但它可能会消失。"

IRAN GOVERNMENT PLAYED DIRECT ROLE IN INSTIGATING U.S. EMBASSY DEMONSTRATION IN IRAQ, INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS SAY

The Iranian government has played a direct role in organizing the demonstration into the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in a violent demonstration distinct from the protests sweeping Iraq, an Iraqi intelligence official and senior Pentagon official told Newsweek.

An Iraqi intelligence official told Newsweek that the demonstrations were "not an Iraqi uprising."

"This is not short of military planning by the IRGC-Quds Force"—a reference to the elite expeditionary branch of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, commanded by Qassem Soleimani—the official said, speaking under the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to discuss publicly. "They wage war not only against American soldiers and civilians, but most of all they wage war against the poor and helpless Iraqi citizens who are against the Shiite Islamic state of Iran," the official said.

A senior Pentagon official said the term "military operation" is "too strong" to describe what was happening at the embassy, and called the situation a "probing action," distinct from the kind of "organic uprising" that has engulfed the country since October 25 and under which Iraqis have burned Iranian diplomatic buildings in protest of the Islamic Republic's growing influence.

However, the official said, the protesters at the embassy "were directly influenced, orchestrated, prodded by the Iranians."

"It's important to understand that it may be 900 idiots, and 10 instigators," like a "mix" of average Iraqis and those mobilized by outside forces, the official said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi denied in a statement any role of Tehran in the demonstration, calling such accusations "a blatant insult to the people of Iraq," who he said regard the U.S. as "occupiers."

Members of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces militia wielding Kataib Hezbollah flags try to breach the outer wall of the U.S. diplomatic mission in the capital Baghdad, on December 31, during a rally to vent anger over weekend airstrikes that killed pro-Iran fighters in western Iraq.

The episode is the latest conflict as the feud worsens across the region between the U.S. and Iran. Last Friday, the Islamic Republic's close ally Kataib Hezbollah launched an attack on the K-1 Air Base in northern Iraq's Kirkuk, killing a Defense Department contractor and wounding both U.S. and Iraqi personnel. In response, U.S. aircraft bombed several of the Shiite Muslim militia's positions in Iraq and Syria border area the following Sunday, killing scores of fighters, including what both the Iraqi intelligence and senior Pentagon official told Newsweek were up to three Iranian special forces personnel.

The unilateral strikes were condemned by top officials throughout the government and in influential circles in Iraq. A funeral procession held Monday for the slain Kataib Hezbollah fighters, who operate under the state-sponsored Popular Mobilization Forces, also known as Al-Hashed Al-Shaabi, marched toward the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone and managed to storm the gates and wreak havoc on the premises.

Their demands included the closure of the U.S. embassy in Iraq, a country long torn between the interests of Washington and Tehran and sick with the fatigue of foreign influence. Although Iraqis have begun to openly question Iran's presence, the recent airstrikes also have accelerated calls to establish a timeline for U.S. withdrawal.

"My prediction for 2019 was that U.S forces would remain in Iraq," Abbas Kadhim, director of the Atlantic Council's Iraq Initiative, told Newsweek. "I was right even though at the time there was momentum for a law being passed for the withdrawal of U.S. forces."

"My prediction for 2020 after what's happened is that it's next to impossible to keep U.S. forces in Iraq. I made the prediction before the surrounding of the U.S. embassy, and it's not just troops but the U.S. diplomatic presence as well," he added, noting, however, that this "is not inevitable," even if Washington and Tehran's own dispute appeared intractable.

Dramatic scenes of Monday's protests were reminiscent of the takeover of Washington's embassy in Tehran in 1979. The Islamic Revolution toppled a CIA-backed monarchy by storming the U.S. compound and holding diplomats hostage for 444 days. It sparked a decades-long rivalry further inflamed by Trump's decision last year to leave a multilateral nuclear deal with Tehran and impose heavy sanctions.

The situation only grew worse in 2019. In addition to attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. accused Iran directly of ordering rocket attacks against military facilities associated with the longstanding U.S. presence in Iraq, where the 2003 invasion paved the way for dueling Sunni and Shiite Muslim militias. The latter decisively won out with the 2017 defeat of the Islamic State militant group, known as ISIS, and groups with close Iranian ties such as Kataib Hezbollah enjoy considerable power.

U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters from 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 34th Combat Aviation Brigade, conduct overflights of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, December 31. The helicopters launched flares as a show of presence while providing additional security and deterrence against protestors.

Still, in a country plagued by decades of conflict, fears grew that the U.S. embassy could erupt into the next warzone as Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement Tuesday that the United States was sending "additional forces to support our personnel at the Embassy." At least 120 Marines from 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, an infantry unit assigned to a special purpose task force under U.S. Central Command, arrived Tuesday in Baghdad.

"Our first priority is the safety and security of U.S. personnel," a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek. "U.S. personnel are secure and there has been no breach. There are no plans to evacuate Embassy Baghdad."

Opened in 2009 at a cost of roughly $736 million to construct, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad covers 104 acres, and is among the largest American embassies in both staff size and budget, according to the Congressional Research Service.

A senior Defense Department official told Newsweek Tuesday that the embassy is holding in "Force Protection Charlie," a military term for the force protection level that applies when either a terrorist or hostile act incident occurs near U.S. forces, or when intelligence is received that suggests a hostile act or terrorist attack against Defense Department personnel or facilities could occur.

The State Department spokesperson denied that U.S. ambassador to Iraq Matt Tueller had been evacuated and instead asserted that he "has been on previously scheduled personal travel for over a week" and will be "returning to the Embassy."

"The Iranian backed demonstrations in front of the U.S. Embassy should not be confused with the Iraqi protestors who have been in the streets since October to decry the corruption exported to Iraq by the Iranian regime," the spokesperson continued. "We have made clear the United States will protect and defend its people, who are there to support a sovereign and independent Iraq."

Kadhim, however, said that "one can't write this off as a pro-Iran action," though "they are the biggest beneficiaries." He said he believed the rocket attack on the K-1 Air Base was "a trap for the U.S., the U.S. swallowed the bait, the U.S. hit back instead of accepting a black eye."

"In the long-term and on the ground, they bombed their own interests," Kadhim said. "I don't know who the hell advised the U.S. government and told them to bomb the Hashed and kill them, but this person should be fired."

"The U.S. suffering of losing Iraq is not even comparable to Iraq's suffering from the loss of strong relations with the U.S.," he added. "Iraq is not lost yet, but it can be."