Tom Bateman BBC State Department Correspondent & Mike Wendling
BBC News
Non-essential US embassy staff and their dependants in Baghdad are to be evacuated from Iraq due to heightened security risks, US government sources have said.
Officials did not say exactly what prompted the removal, but have been told Israel was ready to launch an operation into Iran, the BBC’s US partner CBS reported.
This was part of the reason some Americans were advised to leave the region, officials said, adding that they anticipated Iran could retaliate on certain US sites in Iraq. US officials have also restricted the movements of staff within Israel itself.
It comes as US talks over Iran’s nuclear programme appear to have stalled in recent days.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is still planning on holding talks with Iran about its nuclear programme on Sunday, officials told CBS.
Witkoff will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Muscat, Axios reported.
A US state department official told the BBC: “We are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies.
