UPDATED: Militiamen withdraw from U.S. Embassy but Iraq tensions linger
The withdrawal followed calls from the government and senior militia leaders. It ended a high-stakes two-day crisis and practical siege of the largest and one of the most heavily fortified U.S. diplomatic missions in the world. The attack prompted the Pentagon to send hundreds of additional troops to the Middle East.
The Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of state-allied militias -- many backed by Iran -- called on its supporters to withdraw in response to an appeal by the Iraqi government, saying "your message has been received." "We don't care about these planes that are flying over the heads of the picketers. Neither do we care about the news that America will bring Marines," said Mohammed Mohy, a spokesman for Kataeb Hezbollah. "On the contrary, this shows a psychological defeat and a big mental breakdown that the American administration is suffering from," he said, before withdrawing from the area.
Iran denied involvement in the attack on the embassy. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted by media as saying that "if the Islamic Republic makes a decision to confront any country, it will do it directly." The U.S. has sent more than 14,000 additional troops to the Gulf region since May in response to concerns about Iranian aggression. At the time of the attack, the U.S. had about 5,200 troops in Iraq, mainly to train Iraqi forces and help them combat Islamic State extremists.
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