US Reduces Nonessential Staff At Baghdad Embassy As Tensions With Iran Rise

Radio Farda-June12th2025

The United States is reducing the number of people deemed nonessential to operations in the Middle East, the State Department announced on June 11 amid reports that the US Embassy in Baghdad is preparing for an emergency evacuation due to increased security risks in the region.

The United States is also authorizing nonessential personnel and family members to leave Bahrain and Kuwait, giving them a choice on whether to leave.

An Iraqi Foreign Ministry official confirmed the “limited departure” of US Embassy staff, saying the decision was based on “possible security concerns related to regional tensions.”

Tensions are on the rise in the region as nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran appear to have hit an impasse and after 18 months of war in Gaza that has raised fears of a wider war.

The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the economic sanctions that the United States has imposed on Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Iran has said the next round of talks with the United States will be held on June 15 in Oman. Iran has been working on a counteroffer after rejecting a US proposal for a deal that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described as “100 percent” against national interests.

The United States has a military presence in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

A US official said there had been no change in the status of al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military base in the Middle East, and that there had been no evacuation orders for employees or families associated with the US Embassy in Qatar, Reuters reported.

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