Video of beaten Iraqi woman in Iran angers Iraqis
Spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Ahmad al-Sahaf said his office is "following with great interest" reports about an Iraqi woman that wasa beaten at Iran’s Mashhad airport, Al Arabiya reported.
The remarks were made after social media sites released the video of an Iraqi woman said to have beaten by a police officer at the Iranian airport.
The video shows a woman in her 50s with an injury to her face.
Meanwhile, a report by Arab News says the video has elicited anger among Iraqis.
Arab News quoted the woman as saying that an Iranian police officer hit her in the eye.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said: "“Iraq treats all those who arrive to its land with humanity and respect,” adding that Baghdad calls on “all countries to treat Iraqis similarly.”
Millions of Iranians visit Shiite holy shrines in Iraq every year as thousands of Iraqi Shiites visit the holy shrine in Mashhad in north-eastern Iran.
Iraqis on social media have demanded an apology. In the meantime, Iranian media said on Friday that Iran's Vice-Consul in Najaf has visited the woman and apologized to her for the Iranian police's behavior.
An Iraqi journalist in Baghdad told Radio Farda that the news of the incident has preoccupied Iraqi media and many Iraqis are angry, including residents of Najaf, the hometown of the victim.
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