Groups linked to Iraq's Islamic Resistance factions have called for a mass gathering aimed at storming the US embassy in Baghdad on the evening of March 1, 964 Network reported.

A body calling itself the "Central Popular Committee" issued a statement setting 8:30pm local time as the starting point for a march from Baghdad's Suspension Bridge toward the Green Zone, with the stated aim of "uprooting the embassy of evil."

Angry protesters had already gathered at the Suspension Bridge earlier on March 1 in an attempt to breach the Green Zone and demonstrate outside the US embassy over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iraqi security forces dispersed the crowd using tear gas and water cannon.

The committee's statement expressed what it called "absolute solidarity" with Iran and described the planned march as "the beginning of our response to the aggression and violation of sovereignty, and the least we can offer."

The call came as Iraq's Islamic Resistance separately announced it had carried out 16 drone operations against US bases in Iraq and the wider region on March 1.

Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of Iraq's most prominent Iran-backed armed groups, threatened to wage a prolonged war of attrition against American forces in the region.

Earlier on Iraqi security forces used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters attempting to reach the US embassy inside Baghdad's Green Zone on March 1, Shafaq News reported.

The clashes were concentrated at the Suspension Bridge, where demonstrators tried to breach concrete barriers that authorities had erected overnight. Riot police pushed crowds back from the security fortifications around the presidential zone.

Video footage showed riot control units working to keep the crowds away from the Green Zone's perimeter, with tensions remaining high at the entrances to the heavily fortified area that houses the US diplomatic mission and Iraqi government buildings.

Several Iraqi armed factions have declared their entry into the regional conflict alongside Iran, announcing 16 drone operations against US positions in Iraq and the wider region, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on March 1.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group for multiple armed factions, said dozens of drones were used in the operations targeting what it described as "enemy bases in Iraq and the region," without providing further details on specific targets or damage.

The move places Iraq in a precarious position amid what it described as a constitutional vacuum and a caretaker government, raising the prospect of serious security and political complications.

Kata'ib Hezbollah's operations command said it would soon target US bases across the region in response to American actions, while Abdulqader al-Karbalaei, military deputy of the Nujaba Movement, called on fighters to prepare for "sacred battle" in defence of Iran.