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In an alleged retaliatory move, pro-Iranian militias launched a drone attack targeting a significant U.S. diplomatic facility in Baghdad on Tuesday, as reported by The Washington Post.
The publication detailed that the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center was struck, although no casualties have been reported thus far.
A total of six drones were directed at the compound, but five were successfully intercepted and destroyed.
The Post, referencing information from a security official and a State Department notice, noted that one drone impacted close to a guard tower, prompting personnel to take immediate “duck and cover” measures.
Back on December 15, 2011, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey, alongside Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey, Gen. James Mattis, Gen. Lloyd Austin III, and Sgt. Maj. Joseph Allen, participated in a ceremony retiring the ceremonial flag at the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
“Accountability is ongoing,” the alert said.
Iraq’s ministry of defense condemned the drone and missile attacks targeting the Martyr Muhammad Alaa Air Base and the Martyr Ali Fallah Air Base in a post on X but did not mention the hit on the U.S. facility or Iran directly.
“In response to these sinful aggressions, the Ministry wishes to clarify and confirm the following facts: These air bases are fully sovereign and Iraqi, subject entirely to the authority of the state and the law, and there is no representation of any foreign forces in them under any designation,” the government account wrote.
The security official told The Washington Post the attack was likely conducted by militias affiliated with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose umbrella group of Iran-aligned Shiite armed factions that have claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. forces in the region.
A billboard featuring a photo of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader who was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, is seen along a street in Baghdad on March 9, 2026. (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images)
At the start of Operation Epic Fury, the State Department had urged Americans to depart immediately from more than a dozen countries across the Middle East, warning of “serious safety risks” as the Iran war intensified.
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said on March 2 that U.S. citizens should leave Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The department said Americans who need help arranging departure via commercial means can contact the State Department 24/7 at +1-202-501-4444 from abroad or +1-888-407-4747 from the U.S. and Canada.
Protesters walk through tear gas during clashes with Iraqi security forces near a bridge leading to the Green Zone in Baghdad on March 1, 2026. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/ via Getty Images)
Officials warned conditions in the region remain volatile, and security situations could change quickly as fighting tied to the conflict continues.
At least nine U.S. missions, including Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and Israel, issued repeated shelter-in-place directives or advisories at the outset of Iran’s retaliatory attacks against U.S. forces and Israel.