"The prime minister called on everyone to leave the place immediately and stressed that aggression… against embassies… was an act that security forces would not tolerate," the Foreign Ministry tweeted.

A dozen of protesters gathered outside the US embassy shortly after funerals were held for fighters of Kataib Hezbollah militia killed in Sunday night strikes that the Pentagon launched in response on a rocket attack on a Kirkuk base.

As tempers flared, Iraqi protesters set fire to the mission’s outer fence and tried to storm it. The State Department denied reports that the embassy had been breached, adding all personnel were secure.

There are no plans at the moment to evacuate the embassy, a State Department spokesperson said. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it was watching the situation closely.

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said extra troops had been dispatched to Baghdad to guard the embassy. He stressed that the US expected the host country to fulfill its duty to protect US diplomats.