Agence France Presse – The Iranian and British consulates in the southern Iraqi city of Basra came nder attack early Tuesday, Iraqi police and British officials said.
Two rockets crashed into the outer wall of the Iranian consulate while a third hit a police vehicle guarding the building, Basra police said, adding that there were no casualties.
Police said they then foiled a second rocket attack on the compound.
Iranian state television said the consulate was attacked by four mortar bombs at 5:30 am (0230 GMT), adding that only a car was damaged.
Two shells landed inside the consulate’s grounds while two others hit its walls, it said.
The consulate blamed "agents of the former Iraqi Baathist regime as well as terrorists" for the incident, the report quoted a consulate statement as saying.
Two other mortars bombs planted in a car were discovered by police near the consulate, it added.
In mid-June, thousand supporters of Sheikh Mahmud al-Hassani al-Sarkhi, an Iraqi Shiite cleric, attacked the consulate and tore down its flag in protest at criticism of their leader broadcast on Iranian television.
Several mortar shells were also fired at the large palace complex that houses the British consulate, a British army base, a UN office and several other organizations.
Only one actually hit the compound, in what British military officials in Basra described as a regular occurrence.
