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The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued an urgent security alert Wednesday telling all American citizens in Iraq to leave the country immediately, as U.S. forces simultaneously launched strikes against multiple targets inside Iran.
"Do not travel to Iraq for any reason. If you are currently in the country, depart now," the embassy said, warning that airspace closures and travel disruptions could occur without prior notice.
The embassy said it had implemented ordered departure measures for some of its own staff, while continuing limited consular operations. Iraq remains under a Level 4 Travel Advisory, the State Department's most severe designation.
The alert came as U.S. Central Command announced "self-defense strikes" against Iran beginning at 5:15 p.m. ET, describing the operation as a response to Iran's "unwarranted and continued aggression." Hours before the strikes, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had publicly warned they were coming.
"Central Command will be busy tonight because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard, and we will be," he told reporters. President Trump told reporters separately, "We're going to hit them hard again today," adding that nuclear talks with Tehran had stalled. "We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along," he said.
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Hegseth accused Iranian negotiators of stringing out their American counterparts. "If we need to negotiate with bombs, we'll negotiate with bombs," he said. "And we're very good at it."
Earlier Wednesday, Trump raised the prospect of striking Iranian critical infrastructure, including bridges and power plants, declining to rule it out when pressed by reporters in the Oval Office.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded on X, writing in Persian that such threats were "not a show of strength but a sign of desperation in the face of a nation's will."
He described critical infrastructure as "the lifeblood of the people" and said Iran "will stand firm against any pressure or threat."
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