Congress pushes Trump to reopen US Consulate in Iraq’s Basra province
The State Department closed the US Consulate in Iraq’s Basra province nearly a year ago. Now Congress is laying the groundwork to reopen it.
The State Department closed its consulate in Iraq’s Basra province last year after rockets landed near the airport that houses the building. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the closure as “temporary” at the time. But one year later, the facility remains shuttered.
Now Congress is laying the groundwork to ensure the closure doesn’t become permanent.
The Republican-held Senate’s State Department funding bill, released Wednesday, stipulates that the Donald Trump administration must “retain possession” of the Basra consulate and report to Congress on “the conditions and costs necessary for reopening” it. The report must also include “options for maintaining a diplomatic presence in [Basra] in the interim.”
At the time of the consulate’s closure, Pompeo blamed Iran-backed militias for the attack, but provided no public evidence to corroborate the claim. The closure renewed Baghdad’s concerns that Iraq could be caught in the crosshairs of US-Iranian tensions as the Trump administration steadily ratchets up its “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
