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The Iraqi government announced on Saturday that it would revoke the license of the Saudi-owned broadcaster MBC to operate in the country. The decision followed protests by supporters of Iranian-backed militias who stormed MBC's Baghdad office. The protesters were angered by a report aired by the station, which labelled several prominent resistance leaders linked to Iran, including an Iraqi militia leader, as terrorists.
The controversial report which listed the ''terrorists'' killed in the 21st century included slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden alongside Iranian-backed figures such as Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militia commander. Notably, Abu Al-Muhandis, a deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, was killed in a US drone strike alongside Qassem Soleimani in 2020. He was a prominent figure in an umbrella group of mostly Shiite paramilitaries and founder of the Kataeb Hezbollah or Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq.
ALSO READ : Leaked Classified US Intelligence Hints At Potential Israeli Plans For Iran; Is Attack On Tehran Imminent? In response to the report, between 400 and 500 protesters stormed MBC's Baghdad office after midnight, damaging equipment and setting part of the building on fire, AP reported citing sources. MBC had already shut down its operations following the attack. Iraqis have surrounded the MBC office building in Baghdad, with fires breaking out nearby.
Some protesters have climbed onto the roof and are now attempting to storm the building. pic.twitter.
com/u35Ja5QK7l Iraq’s Media and Communications Commission, which governs the media in the country, stated that MBC violated broadcasting regulations by attacking "martyrs and resistance leaders," who it said were defending against the "Zionist entity," referring to Israel. ALSO READ : 'Coordinated Assassination Plot': Ex-Canadian Envoy Links Nijjar's Death, Thwarted Pannun Murder Plot To India The protests occurred amid heightened tensions in the region, with ongoing conflicts between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched attacks on US bases and fired rockets at targets in Israel in retaliation for the country's actions in the wars.
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