The United States reduces its diplomatic staff in Iraq 

The US embassy in Baghdad has decided to withdraw some of its diplomatic personnel for security reasons, while US interests in the country have been the target of a series of rocket attacks in recent months, Iraqi officials told the AFP agency.  

According to US State Department sources, this is mainly due to the escalation of tension with Iran following the assassination of the scientist Mohsen Fajrizadeh, considered the director of its nuclear programme, and to the proximity of the first anniversary of the assassination carried out by Washington of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, for which Teheran had already warned of reprisals. 

While its personnel and interests have been the target of rocket and roadside bomb attacks, Washington has pointed the finger at pro-Iranian groups, bombing one of them, Kataeb Hezbollah, twice in retaliation.   

In view of these continuous attacks, the United States issued an ultimatum to Baghdad, threatening to close its representation there, which led the pro-Iranian groups to agree to a "truce" in mid-October and put an end to the attacks. Despite the fresh rocket attacks in several parts of the capital on 17 November, which killed a young woman, Iraqi and several Western officials believed that the truce could last, but that Washington was still preparing several options, including a partial withdrawal.  

The ultimatum would be accompanied by possible sanctions against Iraqi personalities. Pompeo also threatened in October to withdraw the 3,000 American soldiers still deployed in Iraq. This would be tantamount to giving in to the objective of Iran, the US administration's number one enemy, which aimed to withdraw American troops from Iraq, Afghanistan and more widely from the Middle East. 

"This is a minor withdrawal based on the security concerns of the Americans, they should come back, it's just a precautionary measure," an Iraqi source told AFP, speaking anonymously. "We had been informed of this and the key diplomats, including the ambassador, are still there. There is no diplomatic break," the source added. According to a second Iraqi official, this partial withdrawal is intended to "minimise the risks", without specifying the number of US diplomats, out of the several hundred present in the country, who are leaving.  

The US State Department, for its part, refused to accept any comment, recalling that the security of the US representatives and of its citizens and facilities "continues to be our top priority", while specifying that Ambassador Matthew Tueller was still in Baghdad. According to the information provided, the reduction in personnel is "temporary".