The United States on Friday called upon all its nationals to leave Iraq immediately either through an airline or through a land boundary.
The US Embassy in Baghdad in a statement issued said, “due to heightened tensions in Iraq and the region, the US Embassy urges American citizens to heed the January 2020 Travel advisory and depart Iraq immediately.
Due to the attack on the US Embassy, the mission has also suspended all consular services and has said: “Due to Iranian- backed militia attacks at the US Embassy compound (in Baghdad), all public consular operations are suspended until further notice.
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For those who need consulate support, the US Consulate General in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, will be in service”.
This advisory comes as tensions between the US and Iranian backed elements have increased in the past week.
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It started with Iran backed militant group, the Kata’ ib Hizbollah’s attack on the US military base in Kirkuk near Baghdad on Sunday that killed a private contractor.
On Monday, the US forces attacked and destroyed various hideouts of the militant group.
This was followed up with a drone strike that killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds force, a special force within the Iranian revolutionary guards on Thursday.
The Iranian supreme leader tweeted saying that the US bears all consequences of any deterioration of the situation in the region.
It is in this regard that the US has called upon its citizens to evacuate from Iraq.