U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller on May 29 told reporters that the United States is tracking reports of recent attacks on U.S. brands in Iraq.

“We are tracking those reports and obviously condemn the act of violence, and we welcome the statement by Iraqi authorities that they are investigating the attack and want to see them fully do so,” he said.

On May 26-27, U.S.-owned restaurants KFC and Chili House were attacked in Baghdad, in protest over U.S. support for Israel. There were also unconfirmed reports of a protest in Baghdad in front of a soft drinks manufacturer that produces Pepsi.

Read More: Attacks on Restaurants Hurt Investment in Iraq: Official

Former Foreign Minister of Iraq and senior Kurdistan Democratic Party official Hoshyar Zebari in a post on X on May 27 underlined that attacks on restaurants hurt investment in Iraq.

“There is a big inconsistency between the Iraqi government’s call on countries to invest in Iraq on the basis that it is stable and recovering and the recent attacks on the international and U.S.-owned restaurants KFC and Chili House in Baghdad by armed, unrestrained groups that do not accord with sound governmental orientation,” Zebari wrote.

Mohammed Salih, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, also told Kurdistan Chronicle that, regardless of the motives of the attackers, the “attacks challenge the narrative put forward by the government that Iraq is safe for foreign businesses and investors.”