By Louisa Loveluck, Missy Ryan and John Hudson

BEIRUT — The United States has told the Iraqi government and its diplomatic partners that it’s planning a full withdrawal from its embassy in Baghdad unless Iraq reins in attacks on personnel linked to the American presence there — a move that Iraqi officials said caught them by surprise.

“We hope the American administration will reconsider it,” Ahmed Mulla Talal, a spokesman for Prime Minister Mustafa ­al-Kadhimi, said Sunday. “There are outlaw groups that try to shake this relationship, and closing the embassy would send a negative message to them.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified Kadhimi of the plans Saturday night, according to an official familiar with the matter. Two Western officials in Baghdad said their country’s diplomatic missions had been informed of the plan.

Militia supporters chanting ‘Death to America’ break into U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad

It was unclear on Sunday whether the White House had signed off on a possible departure and what might prompt the Trump administration to shelve the plan. If the administration moves forward, closing the embassy is expected to take 90 days, a window that would give Washington the opportunity to reassess the decision, said a diplomat familiar with the situation.

An Iraqi official said the U.S. government asked for stronger action against militias, suggesting that a shutdown could be averted if that occurred.

A spokeswoman for the State Department declined to comment on Pompeo’s “private diplomatic conversations with foreign leaders” but underscored U.S. frustrations with “Iran-backed groups launching rockets at our Embassy.”

She said such attacks “are a danger not only to us but to the Government of Iraq, neighboring diplomatic missions, and residents of the former International Zone and surrounding areas.”

President Trump’s decision to order the killing of senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani outside the Baghdad airport in January sparked a firestorm in Iraq. Iraqi lawmakers urged the expulsion of U.S. troops. Iranian-backed militia groups ramped up a campaign of rocket and small-scale bomb attacks on the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi military bases that host U.S.-led coalition troops.

Read more from the source: Washington Post