ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The US State Department on Thursday announced it was ending the “ordered departure status” for its diplomatic mission personnel in Erbil and Baghdad, over a month after Washington called on nonessential personnel to evacuate in light of regional tensions.

“Starting today, [State] Secretary [Marco] Rubio decided to end the ordered departure status for the US Mission Iraq personnel, including personnel at the US Embassy Baghdad and US Consulate General Erbil,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday.

On June 11, two days before the Israel-Iran war began, the US Department of State told The New Region that they had decided to reduce their mission in Iraq in line with Washington’s commitment to keep its personnel safe.

At the time, Associated Press reported that the State Department has ordered “the departure of all nonessential personnel” from the US embassy in Baghdad, noting that the diplomatic mission “already had been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel.”

Bruce added that personnel who had been relocated outside of Iraq “will begin a gradual return” to the embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil.

The State Department spokesperson stressed that the travel advisory for Iraq remains at “Level 4: Do not travel,” noting that Washington continues to closely monitor and assess the security situation in Iraq and the wider region.

“We remain strongly committed to advancing our policy priorities in Iraq, strengthening Iraq's sovereignty, advancing US business interests, and engaging with Iraqi leaders and the Iraqi people,” Bruce added.

Iran and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement on June 25. Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq had repeatedly threatened to strike US bases in the Middle East throughout the 12-day conflict.

Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups claimed hundreds of attacks against Israeli and American targets between October 2023 and October 2024 in response to the war in Gaza.