US partially pulls embassy staff from Iraq as tensions rise

Euronews

a day ago

The US has ordered the departure of non-essential embassy staff and their families from the Middle East over heightened security concerns in the region.
The decision comes amid an apparent impasse in US-Iran nuclear talks, with President Donald Trump saying he was "less confident" the pair would reach a deal.
The State Department on Wednesday announced it would be partially evacuating personnel from the US embassy in Baghdad in order to "keep Americans safe, both home and abroad."
The US embassy in Baghdad already operates at limited staffing over security risks, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel.
The department has also authorised the departure of non-essential personnel and family members from its embassies in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the 'voluntary departure of military dependents from locations' across the region, US Central Command said in a statement. The command 'is monitoring the developing tension in the Middle East.'
Earlier Wednesday, the UK's maritime agency issued a warning to ships in the region that an escalation of tensions could impact shipping. It advised vessels to be cautious in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Strait of Hormuz — waterways that all border Iran.
Iraq's state-run Iraqi News Agency said the evacuation of some nonessential employees from the US Embassy in Baghdad was part of 'procedures related to the US diplomatic presence in a number of Middle Eastern countries, not just Iraq,' adding that Iraqi officials 'have not recorded any security indicators that warrant an evacuation.'
Tensions have escalated recently amid a deadlock in negotiations between the US and Iran over Tehran's advancing nuclear program. The ongoing war — now over 18 months — between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has heightened concerns of a broader conflict that could draw in the US, Israel, Iran, and its regional allies.
Speaking at the Kennedy Centre in Washington on Wednesday, President Trump said staff were being "moved out, because it could be a dangerous place. We'll see what happens."
When asked if there was anything that could be done to reduce tensions in the region, Trump responded that Tehran "can't have a nuclear weapon, firstly."
The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for relief from the crushing economic sanctions the US has placed on the country. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful.
The next and sixth round of talks, which had been tentatively scheduled for this weekend in Oman, now looks increasingly likely to be cancelled, according to two officials who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
In a separate interview with the New York Post's 'Pod Force One' podcast, Trump said he was "getting more and more less confident about' a deal.
'They seem to be delaying, and I think that's a shame. I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them," he said in the interview released on Wednesday.
Iran's mission to the UN posted on social media that 'threats of overwhelming force won't change the facts."
US militarism "only fuels instability," the mission claimed.
Iranian Defense Minister General Aziz Nasirzadeh separately told journalists Wednesday that Tehran would be ready to respond to airstrikes.
'If conflict is imposed on us, the opponent's casualties will certainly be more than ours, and in that case, America must leave the region, because all its bases are within our reach,' he said. 'We have access to them, and we will target all of them in the host countries without hesitation.'
Amid growing tensions with Tehran, the top US military officer for the Middle East, General Erik Kurilla, was scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, but that testimony has now been postponed, according to the committee's website. The Pentagon has not commented on the postponement.
Myanmar is on "a path to self-destruction" if violence in the conflict-wracked Southeast Asian nation doesn't end, the UN envoy has warned.
Julie Bishop told the UN General Assembly that "alarmingly" the violence didn't end after a powerful earthquake in late March devastated parts of the capital, Naypyidaw, and the country's second-largest city, Mandalay, killing more than 3,000 people and injuring thousands more.
Ceasefires announced by some parties have largely not been observed, "embedding a crisis within a crisis," and people in Myanmar must now deal with the raging conflict and the earthquake's devastation, Bishop said.
"A zero-sum approach persists on all sides," she said. "Armed clashes remain a barrier to meeting humanitarian needs. The flow of weapons into the country is fuelling the expectations that a military solution is possible."
A widespread armed struggle against military rule in Myanmar began in February 2021 after generals seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
More than 6,600 civilians are estimated to have been killed by security forces, according to figures compiled by non-governmental organisations.
The military takeover triggered intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organised by Myanmar's ethnic minority groups in its border regions, which have struggled for decades for more autonomy.
It also led to the formation of pro-democracy militias that support a national unity government established by elected lawmakers barred from taking their seats after the army takeover.
More than 22,000 political prisoners are still in detention, Bishop said, including Suu Kyi, who turns 80 on 19 June, and the ousted president, Win Myint.
The UN envoy said she detected "some openness to political dialogue with some regional support, but there is not yet broader agreement on how to move forward."
In meetings with the country's leaders, Bishop said she encouraged them to reconsider their strategy, which has left the country more divided.
She also warned against elections, planned for December or January, saying they risk fuelling greater resistance and instability unless there is an end to the violence and they can be held in an inclusive and transparent way.
Bishop said she has been coordinating further action with Othman Hashim, the special envoy for Myanmar from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and they agreed to visit Myanmar together.
The UN envoy said she had a meeting online on Monday with representatives of the Rohingya minority from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
She said the situation for the Rohingya in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state remains dire, with up to 80% of civilians living in poverty and caught in crossfire between the government's military forces and the Arakan Army, the well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority, and "subject to forced recruitment and other abuses."
More than 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar starting in late August 2017 when Myanmar's military launched a "clearance operation."
Members of the ethnic group face discrimination and are denied citizenship and other rights in the Buddhist-majority nation.
Bishop said there's hope that a high-level conference on the Rohingya and other minorities called for by the UN General Assembly on 30 September will put a spotlight on the urgency of finding "durable solutions" to their plight.