Protesters stormed the Iranian Consulate in Iraq's southern city of Basra on Friday, turning their wrath on Iraq's powerful neighbor after five days of deadly demonstrations in which government buildings have been ransacked and torched.

Demonstrators broke in and began damaging the offices, shouting condemnation of what many Iraqis perceive as Iran's sway over Iraq's political parties. Security sources said the consulate was empty when the crowd burst in.

The storming came hours after Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric called for a political shake-up in Baghdad and a halt to violence against the protesters.