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Embassy of the United States, Baghdad

Embassy of the United States, Baghdad

Chancery Building in January 2014
Map
LocationIraq Baghdad, Iraq
Coordinates33°17′56″N 44°23′46″E / 33.299°N 44.396°E / 33.299; 44.396
OpenedMay 2008 (2008-05)
AmbassadorElizabeth Kennedy Trudeau
Chargé d'affaires (since 2024)

The Embassy of the United States of America in Baghdad (Arabic: سفارة الولايات المتحدة، بغداد) is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in the Republic of Iraq. Chargé d'affaires and interim Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau is currently the chief of mission.

At 104 acres (42 ha), it is the largest U.S. diplomatic mission compound; nearly equal in area size to the Vatican City.[1] The embassy complex is about 2.5 times the size of the Embassy of the United States, Beirut, which is the second-largest U.S. diplomatic mission abroad, as well as over three times the size of the Embassy of the United States, Islamabad, which is the third-largest U.S. diplomatic mission abroad.[2][3]

The embassy opened in January 2009 following a series of construction delays. It replaced the previous embassy, which opened July 1, 2004 in Baghdad's Green Zone in a former Palace of Saddam Hussein.[4] The embassy complex cost US$750 million to build and reached a peak staffing of 16,000 employees and contractors in 2012.[5] The U.S. thereafter embarked on a major personnel reduction that reduced the total staffing to 11,500 in January 2013 and to 5,500 by 2014.[6] Total headcount was reduced to 486 by late 2019 and 349 by mid-2020.[7]

On 31 December 2019, the embassy was attacked by supporters of Popular Mobilization Forces militia in response to airstrikes in Iraq and Syria conducted by United States Air Force the previous Sunday.[8] The embassy was also repeatedly attacked by Iranian-aligned Iraqi Shiite militias and Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following President Trump's order for a drone strike assassination against Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad Airport on 3 January 2020.

  1. ^ "New embassy in Iraq a mystery". NBC News. April 14, 2006. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  2. ^ "New embassy reflects growing ties to China". Associated Press. August 4, 2008.
  3. ^ "America's new embassy in Beirut is vast". The Economist. May 18, 2023. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  4. ^ "New US embassy opens in Baghdad The compound" BBC News (January 5, 2009)
  5. ^ Arango, Tim (February 7, 2012). "U.S. Is Planning to Cut Its Staff at Iraq Embassy by as Much as Half". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Inspection of Embassy Baghdad and Constituent Posts, Iraq" (PDF).
  7. ^ Gramer, Robbie. "State Department Outlines Dramatic Scale-Down of U.S. Presence in Iraq". Foreign Policy. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  8. ^ "Militiamen breach US Embassy in Baghdad;". Associated Press News.

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