'Khamenei Revenge' Bloody Protests in Pakistan... At Least 9 Dead in Attack on U.S. Consulate [U.S. Iran Airstrike]

Clashes Erupt Between Protesters and Police in Karachi
Pakistan, the World’s Third-Largest Shia Nation, Engulfed in Unrest

After the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike, intense pro-Iran and anti-American protests erupted in Pakistan, the world’s largest Shia-majority nation, escalating into deadly violence.

Yonhap News

According to major foreign news agencies on March 1 (local time), hundreds of protesters in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, attempted to storm the U.S. Consulate and clashed directly with police. Protesters fiercely resisted by setting fire to police posts and vehicles in front of the consulate’s main gate, while police responded with tear gas and live ammunition.

Local police and medical staff reported that at least nine people were killed and between 10 and 20 others were injured in the process. Pakistani authorities said that after dispersing the protesters, “the situation is now fully under control,” but tensions remain high at the scene.

The protests appear to be spreading nationwide. In Skardu, located in the Gilgit-Baltistan region in the north, protesters set fire to a United Nations (UN) office building. Fortunately, no casualties have been reported there so far. In central Lahore, hundreds also held a protest near the U.S. Consulate, but it fortunately did not escalate into major violence.

The Pakistani government has designated the parliamentary and diplomatic enclave in the capital Islamabad as a “Red Zone” and has completely blocked surrounding roads, significantly increasing security.

Although Pakistan is predominantly Sunni, it has the world’s third-largest Shia Muslim population (estimated at about 37.5 million), after Iran and Iraq. The religious sentiment of the Shia community, who regard Khamenei as a spiritual authority, is believed to have served as the catalyst for these protests.

In fact, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the only one among South Asian countries to issue an official condemnation of the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, calling them an “unjust attack.” As a neighboring nation to Iran, Pakistan expressed grave concern over the escalating regional tensions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.