BAGHDAD: Supporters of pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq ransacked offices affiliated with a Saudi TV channel in Baghdad early Saturday, two security sources said, after the broadcaster aired a report referring to commanders of Tehran-backed militant groups as “terrorists”.

After midnight, between 400 and 500 people attacked the studios of a production company in Baghdad that works for the Saudi broadcaster MBC.

“They wrecked the electronic equipment, the computers, and set fire to a part of the building,” an interior ministry source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said the fire had been extinguished and the crowd dispersed by police. “Security forces are still deployed near the building,” he added. There were no immediate reports of arrests. On Saturday morning, a large police presence remained in the area, blocking access to the site, according to an AFP photographer.