Leave Iraq now, US Embassy asks Americans as tensions soar with Iran

As the military tensions between Israel, the US and Iran spread across West Asia, the US government asked Americans to leave Iraq as soon as possible. In a statement released on Wednesday (March 4), the US embassy said, “The US government cares about your safety and will continue to provide you with the information necessary to make informed decisions. US citizens in Iraq are strongly advised to depart as soon as circumstances permit and to remain at their places of residence until conditions are safe for departure. Please ensure you have an adequate stockpile of food, water, medications, and other essential supplies.”

"The US Mission in Iraq continues to implement shelter-in-place measures for all its personnel. We recommend that all US citizens in Iraq who are unable to depart safely follow the same procedure until further notice. To the extent possible, remain in your homes, hotels or other buildings, and stay away from windows," the post added.

This came after the US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday (March 4) that an Iranian warship had sunk in the Indian Ocean following an American strike. He stated that the US had “torpedoed” the vessel in international waters. The confirmation followed an earlier statement by a Sri Lankan navy spokesperson, who reported that several bodies had been recovered after the Iranian frigate Iris Dena went down just beyond the island’s territorial waters.

During a briefing, Hegseth also asserted that the US and Israel would gain “complete control of Iran’s skies in under a week.” He said the US was prepared to deploy precision gravity bombs, which he described as being in “unlimited stockpile.” According to him, the enemy is no longer capable of launching missiles at the previous scale. “We can sustain this fight easily,” he said, adding that the US would determine when and how the conflict ends, on its own terms.