All US embassies in striking distance of Iran told to convene emergency action committees in case of escalation — report

The decision to pull all nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Baghdad came about after all US embassies within striking distance of Iran were instructed to take steps to mitigate risk in the event of a possible Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Washington Post reports.

As any Israeli military action will almost certainly be met with an Iranian counterattack, the report says, US missions in the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe were instructed to convene emergency action committees and to inform Washington of the steps that needed to be taken to minimize harm.

An unnamed State Department official tells that it was this procedure, in addition to “recent analyses,” that led US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “reduce the footprint of our mission in Iraq.”