Thousands of Iraqis, angered by a months-long political crisis, took to the streets of the capital Baghdad, days after deadly clashes between rival Shiite factions sparked fears of widespread unrest.

On Friday, non-partisan protesters stormed al-Nusur Square in western Baghdad, waving Iraqi banners and flags, demanding a full political overhaul.

“Protesters say they took to the streets today to demand the removal of the entire political elite, whom they accuse of corruption,” Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed reported from Baghdad.

“They are demanding justice for their colleagues who were killed by security forces in 2019,” Abdelwahed added, referring to the anti-government protest movement that erupted in October 2019 but has since died down.

Friday’s mobilization followed nearly 11 months of political stalemate that left the country without a new government, prime minister or president as Shiite factions refused to form a coalition after elections last October.

Demonstrators chanted “Arab Spring” slogans, “People want the fall of the regime” and “Iran will rule no more.”

“They are chanting against the politicians that Iran supports,” Abdelvahed said, and they don’t want Iran to manipulate any government that he accuses of destroying the country for years.

Clashes between supporters of the influential Shiite scholar Moqtada al-Sadr and rival factions backed by Iran earlier this week turned Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to government buildings and embassies, into a battleground with dead and wounded.