The Ottoman occupation authorities in Iraq exploited the deterioration of the internal situations in Iran due to Sultan Shah Qajar's illness, and the local political conflicts, in order to continue to commit more massacres against the people of the holy city of Karbala, where some of the victims of those massacres were Iranian pilgrims and traders.
Due to the deteriorating situation experienced by Iran at the time, it could only resort to some diplomatic means by its ambassador in Baghdad, "Mullah Abdul Aziz" through contacting with a number of great powers during that period in order to save the city and its inhabitants from the oppression of the Ottoman occupation authorities, in addition to his role in collecting and documenting evidence incriminating these authorities for committing ethnic cleansing against Iraqi and Iranian followers of Ahl al-Bayt "peace be upon them" (1).
As part of expanding his bloody military campaign against Karbala, the Ottoman governor in Baghdad, Muhammad Najib Pasha, has published propaganda stated that the Iranian state had prepared an alleged army of 20,000 troops to save the city and to expel the invading forces, which contributed to repel the parties seeking a peaceful solution to the dilemma, as well as to win the Ottoman supreme authorities into his side for the sake of committing more massacres against the locals and looting the treasures of the two holy shrines of Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas "peace be upon them."
Source
(1) The Karbala's Civilizational Encyclopedia: by Karbala Center for Studies and Research, Vol. 9, p. 194.
