Iraq protests highlight U.S.-Iran rivalry, and missteps

Two days of protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, set off by deadly American airstrikes over the weekend, highlight miscalculations by both of the country’s most powerful patrons: Iran and the United States.

Iran’s proxy militias have played a crucial role in the fight against the Islamic State, making them an unlikely bedfellow of the United States. But one of them killed an American contractor in an attack last week on an Iraqi military base, apparently without fear of retaliation.

The Trump administration, which has dismissed the depth of Iran’s determination to re-establish itself as the most powerful force in the region, seems not to have anticipated that its retaliatory airstrikes on an Iranian militia would set off a broad outcry in Iraq.

Details: Some protesters forced their way into the embassy compound on Tuesday and set some of its outbuildings on fire. The crowd, which was smaller on Wednesday, retreated after the Iranian-backed militias that had organized the unrest ordered them to leave.

Background: Here’s why the protesters targeted the embassy, and why demonstrations in Iraq have centered in recent months on Iran’s outsize influence there.

What’s next: The Iraqi government’s decision to allow the protesters to enter the secure compound that includes the embassy may threaten a continued American presence in the country. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled a planned trip to Ukraine and four other nations so that he can stay in Washington to monitor the tensions in Baghdad.