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Politico said the Trump administration decided to withdraw nearly half of the US diplomats from the US embassy in Baghdad, while the US military increased the degree of coordination with the Israeli military in anticipation of an Iranian response to the assassination of nuclear scientist Fakhrizadeh. , amid Israeli targeting talks by Iran that expected limited losses.
The site added, citing US officials, that the withdrawal of the diplomats is supposed to be temporary, but the tension between Iran and the United States confuses the date of their return.
For its part, a spokesman for the US State Department, in response to an Al-Jazeera query, refused to confirm the news of the diplomats’ withdrawal. He stressed that the safety of US government employees and US citizens and the security of their facilities remains a top priority for the ministry.
The French Press Agency quoted two senior Iraqi officials as saying that the United States reduced the number of its diplomats working at its embassy in Baghdad “a temporary security measure.” The embassy and other US military sites in Iraq have been targeted by dozens of missiles this year.
A senior Iraqi official attributed the decision to reduce the number of US diplomatic personnel to security concerns, saying: “It is a small reduction based on the security reserves on the US side. They can return; it is a temporary security measure, this is not a breakdown of diplomatic relations. “
A second senior Iraqi official confirmed that the US move is aimed at “reducing risks.” None of the Iraqi officials specified the number of people concerned by the decision to remove them from Baghdad, noting that hundreds of American diplomats work at the embassy.
These events come just before the first anniversary of the assassination of the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in a US attack on January 3, and the United States Department of Defense (the Pentagon) said at the time this attack was ordered by President Donald Trump with the aim of “deterring any Iranian plan.” To launch attacks in the future. “
It also comes in light of tension in the region after the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, in an attack on his car near the capital Tehran on Friday, when Iran vowed to respond to his assassination.
CNN quoted a Pentagon official as saying the ministry decided to move the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the Gulf region with other warships.
Military coordination
The Israeli and US armies have increased the level of coordination between them, anticipating the possibility that Iran will respond to the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
The coordination of special instructions related to the activation of the joint early warning systems, which are capable of monitoring any missile launches towards Israel or US sites in the Middle East, has been revised.
The Haaretz newspaper said Israel made slight modifications to its missile defense systems, but did not have to call in reserves to activate these systems.
On the other hand, Reuters quoted an Israeli security official as saying that Iran is looking for staggering targets like gas fields to attack in response to the murder of Fakhri Zadeh.
Battleship of Israel
On Wednesday, Israel received its first new battleships, in a move that a senior navy commander said in an interview with Agence France-Presse, is part of modernizing the fleet and “significantly” improving the country’s ability to cope. regional opponents, including Iran.
The deal to buy 4 battleships and 3 submarines from the German giant “ThyssenKrupp” is surrounded by suspicions of corruption, whose investigations include close associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But far from suspicions of corruption, the battleships are a cornerstone of the modernization of the Israeli naval fleet, according to statements made by the commander of Israeli naval operations, Admiral Eyal Harel, in an interview last week.
Harrell said the new fleet would enhance the Navy’s ability to protect the Jewish state’s facilities to extract natural gas from opponents such as the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.
Off the coast of Israel, there are facilities for extracting petroleum materials from offshore fields that generate increasing profits for the Jewish state.
Harel said facilities to extract oil resources off the Israeli coast “are the main objective of Hezbollah’s target bank for the next year.”
He added that the warships, which are of the Saar-6 class, are equipped with “the most advanced radar of all warships in the world.” The battleship “INS Magen” arrived in the port of Haifa on Wednesday and is the first of the “Saar-6” class.
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