South Korea Has No Immediate Plans to Evacuate Companies From Iraq Amid US-Iran Tensions
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it had no immediate plans to evacuate its companies and citizens from Iraq following Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi military bases housing US troops
SEOUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th January, 2020) The South Korean Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it had no immediate plans to evacuate its companies and citizens from Iraq following Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi military bases housing US troops.
The ministry added that most of its citizens in Iraq continued to work and were not at risk of retaliation by the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces.
At the same time, Seoul said it would be ready for an evacuation in the event of an escalation.
The ministry also recommended that citizens residing in the Iran provinces of Khuzestan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan and Bushehr return home, and that travel to other parts of Iran be avoided.
South Korea warned the companies that were planning to send their workers to Iraq to either postpone or cancel their trips.
In the early hours of Wednesday, Iran launched missiles at two US military bases in Iraq in retaliation for the United States' extrajudicial killing of Iran's top general, Qasem Soleimani. No Americans or Iraqis were reported killed in the attack. US President Donald Trump has not announced a military response to the strikes but pledged to impose additional economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.