The United States is preparing a partial evacuation of its Iraqi embassy and will allow military dependents to leave locations around the Middle East due to heightened security risks in the region, U.S. and Iraqi sources said on Wednesday.
The four U.S. and two Iraqi sources did not specify which security risks had prompted the decision and reports of the potential evacuation pushed up oil prices by more than 4%.
“The State Department regularly reviews American 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 the partial evacuations, without giving further details.
A White House official said U.S. President Donald Trump was aware of the move.
The partial evacuations come at a moment of heightened tensions in a region already aflame after 18 months of war in Gaza that has raised fears of a wider conflagration pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and its allies.
