The youth-dominated rallies demanding an overhaul of the ruling system have rocked Shiite-majority parts of Iraq since October, but had thinned out in recent weeks amid the geopolitical storm of rising Iran-US tensions. On Sunday the anti-government protest movement was re-ignited with hundreds of angry young people descending on the main protest camp in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square as well as the nearby Tayaran Square. Others burned tyres to block highways and bridges, turning back cars and leading to traffic jams across the city.