{"id":3366,"date":"2020-12-24T14:59:32","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T14:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/?p=3366"},"modified":"2020-12-24T14:59:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T14:59:34","slug":"us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"US may reportedly close embassy in Iraq in prelude to attacking Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The United States may close its embassy in Iraq to pave the way for an attack on Iran, the Axios website reported\u00a0on\u00a0Wednesday, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>US officials earlier said that they were seeing troubling indicators of &#8220;potential attack preparations&#8221; from pro-Iran militias in Iraq ahead of the first anniversary of Iranian top military commander Qassem Soleimani&#8217;s assassination. The latter was killed in a US drone strike outside Baghdad on 3 January 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move, which is among several options being considered, could be a prelude to retaliation against Iran, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest attack occurred on Sunday, when defensive interceptors stationed at the embassy shot down three rockets fired at the Green Zone, a heavily fortified enclave in Baghdad, where many government offices and diplomatic missions are located. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed Iran-backed militias had been behind the attack, while Tehran has dismissed the accusations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Iraqi military accused an unnamed &#8220;outlaw group&#8221; of launching the attack, which hit a residential complex inside the Green Zone. According to the military\u2019s statement, some buildings and cars in the area were damaged as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier, the US withdrew some of its diplomats from the country to reduce their exposure to possible attacks from the Iranian side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The recent rocket attack came amid heightened tensions in the region, as media reports suggest a possible military strike by Iran could come in the last days of President Trump&#8217;s term in office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The United States may close its embassy in Iraq to pave the way for an attack on Iran, the Axios website reported\u00a0on\u00a0Wednesday, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the discussions. US officials earlier said that they were seeing troubling indicators of &#8220;potential attack preparations&#8221; from [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2366,2365,865,363],"class_list":["post-3366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-world-news","tag-attacking-iran","tag-embassy","tag-iraq","tag-us"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US may reportedly close embassy in Iraq in prelude to attacking Iran - Pakistan News International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"US may reportedly close embassy in Iraq in prelude to attacking Iran - Pakistan News International\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The United States may close its embassy in Iraq to pave the way for an attack on Iran, the Axios website reported\u00a0on\u00a0Wednesday, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the discussions. US officials earlier said that they were seeing troubling indicators of &#8220;potential attack preparations&#8221; from [...]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/123-381.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Desk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Desk\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2b326eefbddc9c3b180116b6f37cce9f\"},\"headline\":\"US may reportedly close embassy in Iraq in prelude to attacking Iran\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-24T14:59:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-24T14:59:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/\"},\"wordCount\":262,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/123-381.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"attacking Iran\",\"embassy\",\"Iraq\",\"US\"],\"articleSection\":[\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-world-news\/us-may-reportedly-close-embassy-in-iraq-in-prelude-to-attacking-iran\/\",\"name\":\"US may reportedly close embassy in Iraq in prelude to attacking Iran - 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