Newsroom
The U.S. is pulling non-essential embassy staff and their families out of Baghdad, citing rising security concerns tied to growing tensions between Israel and Iran, U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday.
While the exact reason for the evacuation wasn’t made public, U.S. sources told CBS News that Washington was alerted Israel might be preparing a military operation against Iran. That warning raised alarms that Iran could retaliate, possibly targeting American personnel or facilities in neighboring Iraq.
The State Department said the decision was based on its “latest analysis” of the security situation. “We are continually assessing the appropriate conduct of staff across all of our embassies,” a spokesperson said.
There are currently around 2,500 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also approved voluntary departures for military families in other parts of the region, including Kuwait and Bahrain.
The backdrop to these developments includes stalled negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Though the U.S. still plans to send envoy Steve Witkoff for a sixth round of talks with Iranian officials on Sunday, confidence is fading. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is “less and less confident” that Iran will stop enriching uranium.
“We're not going to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons,” Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center in Washington. “Americans have been advised to leave the area because it could be a dangerous place, and we'll see what happens.”
Tensions are also running high between the U.S. and Israel. Earlier this week, Trump reportedly had a tense 40-minute call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who favors a military approach over continued diplomacy with Iran.
At a congressional hearing Wednesday, Pentagon officials said there is “a lot of evidence” that Iran may be moving toward developing a nuclear weapon, though Tehran insists its uranium enrichment is solely for civilian energy use.
Meanwhile, the UK's Royal Navy warned of possible disruptions to shipping routes in the Middle East due to rising military tensions. The price of oil jumped more than 4% after news of the U.S. evacuation broke, an early sign of market nerves over the threat of broader regional instability.
This is a developing story.
