US Pulls Dozens Of Diplomats From Iraq - Reports

US Pulls Dozens of Diplomats From Iraq - Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) The United States is withdrawing as many as half of its diplomats from the US embassy in Beijing amid high tensions with neighboring Iran, who might seek vengeance for high-profile assassinations, Politico reported on Wednesday.

A downsizing of the American Embassy in Baghdad is timed to the upcoming first anniversary of the US airstrike that killed last January an Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani who was visiting the Iraqi capital.

The staff reduction is supposed to be temporary, the report said, citing confirmation by a US official and a State Department official.

The report said it was unclear when fuller staffing will resume given the downward trajectory of US-Iranian relations.

Fears also are that Iran, who has significant combat capabilities in Iraq through Shiite militias, may attempt to retaliate to last month's killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, it's top nuclear scientist. Israel, America's major ally in the middle East, is suspected to behind his death.