Germany and Netherland have stopped missions as the United States ordered on Wednesday all non-emergency staff to leave Iraq due to increasing threats from Iranian forces and their proxies, Gulf Today reported.
The US State Department decided to cut off personnel from both its embassy in Baghdad and its consulate in Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan as tensions mount between Iraq’s neighbor Iran and the Americans.
For the same reason, the Dutch government has also suspended a mission in Iraq that provides military trainings to the local forces, the agency cited a report by ANP on Wednesday.
The German government has declared that it also suspended the country’s military training of Iraqi soldiers, due to the recent tensions.
“Obviously, we are watching the increasing tensions in the region with big concern and welcome any measure that is aimed at a peaceful solution,” Gulf Today quoted Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer on Wednesday.
US president Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran Nuclear deal in May, called the deal “worst ever” agreement, which was signed during Barak Obama’s administration. Tensions especially raised between Tehran and Washington since then.
Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohamad Javad Zarif recently said that a war between US and his country is not expected despite the rise of tensions, yet warned of possible conflicts as “accidents can happen.”
The United States deployed a navy carrier strike group to the Middle East days after the Foreign Minister’s comment.
