Iraq denounces ‘dangerous’ US embassy pullout threat

Iraq’s foreign minister has said his country hopes the United States will reconsider its decision to close its diplomatic mission in Baghdad, as a group of ambassadors expressed their willingness to help Iraq tackle security challenges. Fuad Hussein spoke at a news conference during a heated week sparked by the US warning it was taking measures to close its embassy in Baghdad. “We hope that the US government and American administration will reconsider this decision … because the decision is a wrong one, it was taken at the wrong time and the wrong place,” Hussein said. He said it would also send a message to the armed groups perpetuating the attacks that they were effective in reaching their political aims. The US said the embassy would be closed unless the Iraqi government took action to stop frequent rocket and improvised explosive device attacks by Iran-backed groups and rogue armed elements against the American presence in the country. Hussein called the threat to close the US embassy “dangerous” because “there is a possibility that the American withdrawal from Baghdad will lead to other [embassy] withdrawals”. Rocket and mortar attacks have targeted the Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government and home to many foreign embassies, including the US embassy. These attacks have also targeted Baghdad’s international airport, and recent rocket fire intended for the airport struck a residential home killing seven Iraqi civilians, all women and children. Between October 2019 and July this year in Iraq, about 40 rocket attacks have targeted the US embassy or bases housing American troops. “Some people in Washington make parallels with Benghazi but it’s a faulty analysis, just as this is a faulty decision,” said Hussein, referring to Libya’s second city. Four Americans, including the ambassador to Libya, were killed in Benghazi in 2012 when armed attackers among a crowd of protesters stormed the US consulate. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">