Iraq oil ministry confirms U.S. oil workers leaving Basra

Iraq's Oil Ministry said on Friday that some U.S. citizens working for foreign oil companies in the Iraqi oil city of Basra were leaving, confirming an earlier Reuters report. All oilfields across the country were operating normally and production and export were not affected, the ministry said in a statement, adding that no other nationalities were departing.

Some U.S. oil workers are departing after the U.S. urged its citizens to leave Iraq following a U.S. strike on Baghdad airport that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.