Reuters:

Iraq's interior ministry blamed Iranian authorities on Monday for allowing tens of thousands of Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims to storm a border crossing and enter the country without visas, in a rare public confrontation between the two neighbors.

The ministry said in a statement that the pilgrims, traveling on foot toward the Shi'ite shrine city of Karbala to take part in the annual Arbaeen religious ritual, overwhelmed security forces on Sunday, pulling down fences and injuring border guards.

It accused them of deliberately rushing the border crossing in order to pressure security forces to allow them to enter illegally, and it said the border guards had refrained from exercising their right to use force against them.

"We hold the Iranian side responsible because they did not fulfill their duties and obligations" to prevent those without visas from approaching the crossing, the ministry said.

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