Iraqi security forces stand guard at a street amid tight security measures by Iraqi security forces that sealed off the roads around a protest site in Baghdad, Aug. 31, 2013.
As Congress prepares to vote on a draft that would back military strikes against the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iran seems to crafting its own response. According to a report published in Reuters, U.S. officials intercepted a message from Iranian authorities ordering militants inside Iraq to assault American targets in the country if Syria is bombed.
On Thursday, the U.S. State Department issued a warning against nonessential travel in Iraq as renewed sectarian bloodshed along with the civil war in neighboring Syria threatens to undermine the fragile state.
[Reuters]