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The United States is preparing for a partial evacuation of its embassy in Iraq and will allow military personnel to leave countries around the Middle East due to heightened security risks in the region, American and Iraqi sources said on Wednesday.
The four American sources and two Iraqi sources did not specify what security risks had prompted the decision, and reports of the possible evacuation sent oil prices up more than 4%.
"The State Department regularly reviews U.S. personnel abroad and this decision was made as a result of a recent review ," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Reuters when asked about reports of partial evacuations, without providing further details.
A White House official said that US President Donald Trump was aware of the action.
The partial evacuations come at a time of high tensions in a region already engulfed in flames after 18 months of war in Gaza, which has raised fears of a wider clash that would pit the US and Israel against Iran and its allies.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if stalled talks over its nuclear program fail, and on Wednesday he said he was becoming less certain that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium, a key US demand.
Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh also said Wednesday that Iran would retaliate against US bases in the region if nuclear talks fail and it is subjected to attacks. The United States has a military presence in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized the voluntary departure of military personnel from various locations across the Middle East, a U.S. official said. Another U.S. official said this was primarily for family members in Bahrain, where most of them are located.
" The State Department is ready to order the removal of the US embassy in Baghdad. The intention is for this to be done through commercial means, but the US military is on standby if assistance is requested," a third US official said.
An Iraqi foreign ministry official said a "partial evacuation" of US embassy staff had been confirmed due to what the official called "possible security concerns related to potential regional tensions."
Another US official said there was no change in operations at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military base in the Middle East, and that no evacuation orders had been issued for employees or families associated with the US embassy in Qatar, which was operating as usual.
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