WASHINGTON — The breach of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad has prompted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to postpone his trip to Ukraine and four other countries.
Pompeo was to arrive in Ukraine late Thursday in his first visit to the country at the center of President Trump’s impeachment, then on to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Cyprus.
He delayed the trip “to continue monitoring the ongoing situation in Iraq and ensure the safety and security of Americans in the Middle East,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Wednesday. She said he intends to reschedule soon.
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The coffins of Gen. Qassem Suleimani and others who were killed in Iraq by a U.S. drone strike are carried on a truck surrounded by mourners Jan. 6 in Tehran. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press)
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Mourners attend the funeral for Gen. Qassem Suleimani in Tehran. (Associated Press)
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Former Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps chief Mohamad Ali Jafari prays over Suleimani’s coffin. (Handout)
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Enghelab Square in Tehran during the funeral procession for Suleimani and others killed in the U.S. airstrike. (Associated Press)
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,, fourth from left, leads a prayer during the funeral. (Associated Press)
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Iranian lawmakers chant anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans to protest against the U.S. killing of Iranian top general Qassem Suleimani, at the start of an open session of parliament in Tehran, Iran. (Mohammad Hassanzadeh/Associated Press)
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Police estimated the funeral turnout in Tehran to be in the millions. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA/Shutterstock)
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Mourners carry the coffin of slain Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi Muhandis towards the Imam Ali Shrine in the shrine city of Najaf in central Iraq during a funeral procession. (Haidar Hamdani / AFP/Getty Images)
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Equipment assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division is loaded into aircraft from Ft. Bragg, N.C. (Zachary Vandyke / U.S. Department of Defense)
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Mourners carry the coffins of slain Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi Muhandis, Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani and eight others Jan. 4 in Najaf, Iraq. (Haidar Hamdani / AFP/Getty Images)
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Anti-war activists march Jan. 4 from the White House to the Trump International Hotel in Washington. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP/Getty Images)
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Mourners carry the coffin of slain Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi Muhandis in Najaf, Iraq. (Haidar Hamdani / AFP/Getty Images)
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U.S. troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division rest Jan. 4 at Ft. Bragg before deployment. (Andrew Craft / Getty Images)
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Thousands march in Tehran after the death of Gen. Qassem Suleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, in a U.S. airstrike. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA/Shutterstock)
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President Trump gives a statement from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. (Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images)
Iranians burn a U.S. flag during a protest in Tehran to condemn Suleimani’s killing. (Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA/Shutterstock)
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Suleimani in September 2018. (Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office)
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Iraqi anti-government protesters celebrate in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square after hearing the news of the airstrike that killed Suleimani. (AFP )
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The attack at Baghdad’s international airport also killed Abu Mahdi Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, and six other people, according to Iraqi security officials. (Handout)
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Protesters burn property in front of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday. (Khalid Mohammed / Associated Press)
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Iraqi protesters use a plumbing pipe to break the bulletproof glass of the U.S. Embassy’s windows. (Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)
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Smoke rises behind protesters at the embassy. (Khalid Mohammed / Associated Press)
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Protesters pry the U.S. Embassy plaque from the entrance of the compound. (Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images )
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Demonstrators scale a wall to reach the U.S. Embassy grounds in Baghdad. (Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)
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Smoke pours from the embassy entrance. (Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)
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A man waves an Iraqi national flag as he exits a burning room at the U.S. Embassy compound. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Protesters wave militia flags during the embassy siege. (Associated Press)
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A fire burns during the embassy protest. (Khalid Mohammed / Associated Press)
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An Iraqi militia leader takes a selfie at a gate to the U.S. Embassy during the siege. (Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images )
In Baghdad, Iran-backed militiamen withdrew from the U.S. Embassy compound after two days of clashes with American security forces. The U.S. has sent hundreds of additional troops to the Middle East to increase security in the volatile aftermath of the embassy attack and as tensions with Iran rise.
In that call, and through aides at other times, Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate potential 2020 election rival Joe Biden, his son, Hunter, and a discredited theory that Ukrainians and Democrats colluded to influence the 2016 election.
Pompeo also planned to meet Ukrainian religious, civic and business leaders to discuss human rights, investment and economic and political reform, the department said before the postponement.
