2 days ago
US withdraws embassy staff as Israel ‘prepares strikes on Iran'
The United States is scaling down embassy staff in the Middle East amid reports that Israel is preparing an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The partial withdrawal was announced by President Trump, who said he was less confident now that negotiations with Iran would succeed.
Non-essential staff at the American embassy in Iraq, which has come under attack by pro-Iranian militia in the past, have been ordered home, and military dependents in several neighbouring countries will be allowed to leave.
'They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we'll see what happens,' Trump told reporters. 'We've given notice to move out.'
Pro-Iran militia in Iraq attacked the American embassy in Baghdad after a US drone strike killed the leading Iranian military commander, Qasem Soleimani, alongside an Iraqi militia leader as they left the Baghdad airport in January 2020.
