Oil companies in Iraq evacuate foreign staff amid fears of spillover of Israel-Iran war
Several international oil companies operating in southern Iraq have evacuated their foreign employees amid fears of an expansion of the Israel-Iran war, sources told The National on Monday.
The sources, some of whom are employees by the companies, added that workers started to leave straight after the first Israeli attack on June 13, but that they almost all left in recent days. They added that they left through Basra International Airport, the only airport operating in Iraq now, or by land to Kuwait.
The evacuation has not had an impact on operation in these fields or Iraq's oil production, the sources said. Iraq is eager not to be drawn into the conflict and its government has asked the US and Iran not to turn the country into a battleground.
However, there are fears Iran-backed militias in Iraq will spring into action now that the US has entered the war. Sources close to the Iraqi government said last week some of the most prominent militant groups have made it known that any US military intervention would trigger a response.
The US, meanwhile, is keeping its embassy running in Iraq even as it enters the worsening air war nearby in Iran. Some American staff left Iraq last weekend, an embassy representative said, as part of an "orderly departure" that began 10 days ago, shortly before Israel attacked Iran.
However, the US embassy in Baghdad and the consulate general in Erbil "remain open and operating", the official said. They said the US State Department "continues to closely monitor the security situation across Iraq".
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