On Monday evening (March 9), a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry stated that, in light of escalating conflicts in the Middle East, Germany has temporarily evacuated embassy personnel from the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The Australian government, on the other hand, issued orders on March 8 to evacuate diplomatic personnel and their families from the United Arab Emirates.
The spokesperson pointed out, “Considering the current dangerous situation in the Middle East, embassy personnel stationed in Baghdad, Iraq, have been temporarily withdrawn.” He emphasized that authorities are continuously assessing the safety of personnel stationed abroad.
Additionally, the spokesperson added that despite the embassy’s external communication channels being open, due to the severe security situation, their legal and consular services have been significantly reduced prior to this.
Furthermore, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, in a statement made Monday evening in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, indicated that he had consultations with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding the regional situation in the Middle East.
Wadephul directly pointed out that Iranian authorities are conducting “indiscriminate attacks” against countries in the Persian Gulf region, with both the US and Germany strongly condemning these actions and jointly urging Tehran to immediately cease such military operations.
In fact, a few days ago, reports surfaced indicating that soldiers and personnel from the German Embassy in Baghdad were being transferred to Jordan and were returning to Germany on two A400M military transport planes stationed there.
Earlier, German Bundeswehr soldiers stationed in Bahrain had already returned to Germany, and authorities are also preparing to withdraw troops stationed in Kuwait and Lebanon.
Prior to the US-Israeli coalition airstrikes on the Hashemite regime, there were over 500 German soldiers stationed in the Middle East, primarily in Iraq and Jordan.