US orders nonessential staff to leave Baghdad Embassy as Iran tensions rise

The United States is reducing the number of people deemed nonessential to operations in the Middle East, the State Department has announced. The U.S. is also authorizing nonessential personnel and family members to leave Bahrain and Kuwait, which will give them a choice on whether to leave those countries.

The State Department said it made the orders after evaluating recent tensions, which are on the rise in the region as high-stakes nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran appear to have hit an impasse.

Meanwhile President Donald Trump announced that China will make it easier for American industry to obtain magnets and rare earth minerals, clearing the way for trade talks to continue between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump also said Wednesday that the U.S. will stop efforts to revoke the visas of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses.