There is outrage in Iran over the killing of Qasem Soleimani who may have been blamed for a wave of recent protests against the u.s. military presence in Iraq. Not well documented on mainstream media, the protests centre around the so called international zone, reported to contain various government buildings. Also said to contain many abandoned buildings, the 10 km square area has apparently been repopulated by what is described as coalition administrators. According to documentation, an estimated five thousand officials have settled in the area. The former Republican Palace has been inhabited by the head of the western reconstruction team in an area that suffered air strikes from the beginning.