US preparing to evacuate embassy in Iraq over security risks, sources say
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A U.S. flag flies in front of the Chancellery building inside the compound of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad December 14, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
By Ahmed Rasheed and Daphne Psaledakis
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON - The United States is preparing to evacuate its Iraqi embassy due to heightened security risks in the region, three U.S. and two Iraqi sources said on Wednesday while a U.S. official said military dependents could also leave Bahrain.
The sources did not specify which security risks had prompted the decision to evacuate and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if stuttering talks over its nuclear programme fail and on Wednesday he said he was growing less confident that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium, a key American demand.
Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said Iran would hit U.S. bases if the nuclear talks failed, leading to war.
"The State Department is set to have an ordered departure for (the) U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The intent is to do it through commercial means, but the U.S. military is standing by if help is requested," a U.S. official said.
An Iraqi foreign ministry official said a "partial evacuation" of U.S. embassy staff had been confirmed due to what the official termed "potential security concerns related to possible regional tensions".
U.S. military dependents in Bahrain can temporarily depart due to the heightened regional tensions, a U.S. official told Reuters.
Another U.S. official said that there was no change in operations at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East and that no evacuation order had been issued for employees or families linked to the U.S. embassy in Qatar, which was operating as usual.
(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, Timour Azhari, Daphne Psaledakis and Idrees Ali, writing by Jaidaa Taha and Yomna Ehab; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Deepa Babington // REUTERS)
