BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran-backed militiamen withdrew from the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Wednesday after two days of clashes with American security forces, but U.S.-Iran tensions remain high and could spill over into further violence.

Iran-backed militiamen withdrew from the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Wednesday after two days of clashes with American security forces, but U.S.-Iran tensions remain high and could spill over into further violence. The withdrawal followed calls from the government and senior militia leaders.

Iranian-backed militants have ended a day-long siege of the American embassy in Baghdad following an order from their militia organisation, but the struggle between the US and Iran for influence in Iraq looked set to intensify further in 2020.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that the US is sending in additional forces to defend the US embassy in Baghdad after violent protesters stormed the gates earlier in the day following US airstrikes on Iran-backed Iraqi militias, strikes carried out in retaliation for a rocket attack on a local base that killed a US civilian contractor and wounded several others.

President Trump blamed Iran after demonstrators breached the compound’s outer wall. Tensions are high after American airstrikes killed members of an Iran-backed militia.

Protesters broke into the heavily guarded compound of the United States Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday and lit fires inside to express their anger over American airstrikes that killed 24 members of an Iranian-backed militia over the weekend.

Protesters and militia fighters enraged by U.S. air strikes on Iraq staged a violent demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, torching a security post and hurling stones as security forces and embassy guards hit back with stun grenades and tear gas.

Iraqi officials said the ambassador and other staff had been evacuated, but this could not be confirmed with American officials.

In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran of orchestrating the violence and said Tehran would be held responsible.

Crowds of angry Iraqis protesting America’s recent airstrikes against an Iran-backed militia laid siege to the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad Tuesday, chanting “Down, Down USA!” as they stormed through a main gate, prompting U.S. troops to fire back tear gas in response.

On Tuesday afternoon the chaotic scene was still unfolding in the Iraqi capital. At least six U.S. soldiers were seen standing on the roof of the main building pointing their firearms at the demonstrators and sounds of gunfire could be heard.

Protesters angered by recent deadly US air strikes targeting an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia have attacked the US embassy compound in Baghdad.

US troops fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that breached the outer wall of the compound, which is in the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone.

A guard post on the street nearby was also set alight.

US President Donald Trump accused Iran of "orchestrating" the attack and said it would be "held fully responsible".

The U.S. mission in Iraq ended the year on a violent note Tuesday as supporters of an Iran-backed militia breached the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, vandalizing the property and causing U.S. diplomats to hide in lockdown.

The attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday brought back the nightmare of Benghazi for a contractor who survived a terrorist militia’s onslught in Libya seven years ago.

John “Tig” Tiegan, a contractor who fought the terrorists who stormed the Benghazi embassy on Sept. 11, 2012, said he watched Tuesday’s embassy attack in Baghdad unfold over the internet with frustration.

“At least this administration is smart enough to get all the nonessential personnel out before the protest even happened,” Tiegan told the Herald.