During 903 days of Iraqi captivity, Elizabeth Tsurkov, 38, experienced relentless solitary confinement orchestrated by a militia with Iranian backing, The New York Times reported. The initial months brought the most severe agony through unending physical abuse, sexual violence, and additional atrocities, she told the outlet.

"They whipped me all over," she stated in her inaugural post-freedom conversation conducted in September, The New York Times reported. "They basically used me as a punching bag."

Physical injuries prevented comfortable sitting, forcing Tsurkov, an Israeli Russian scholar pursuing doctoral studies at Princeton University, to recline during her account delivered at an acquaintance's residence, with intermittent pain requiring position adjustments, according to The New York Times. Across multiple interview hours with the outlet, she conveyed her abduction, imprisonment, and liberation narrative through predominantly steady delivery, occasionally punctuated by emotional moments.

Kataib Hezbollah, the predominant Shiite paramilitary organization among Iran-supported groups commanding Iraqi influence, held her throughout this period, she informed The New York Times. Sharing her ordeal serves to amplify Iraqi voices silenced by the group's torture practices, she explained to the outlet.

Her ordeal illuminates Kataib Hezbollah's unrestricted operational freedom within Iraq, The New York Times reported. Despite the Iraqi state's compensation for thousands of militia personnel, governmental authority over the organization's activities remains minimal or absent, according to the outlet. Baghdad's prime ministerial office expressed its "committed to holding accountable any party or individual involved in acts of kidnapping or torture," The New York Times reported.

Consistency marks Tsurkov's captivity account when compared against evaluations from her Sheba Medical Center physician in Israel following her return, with that doctor confirming nerve impairment potentially lasting permanently, The New York Times reported. Documentation from her medical file, which the outlet reviewed, chronicles extensive torture-related trauma, stating the necessity for "long-term physical and psychological rehabilitation" given the "severe damages and complex trauma."

Her circumstances transformed rapidly under diplomatic intervention, with the Trump administration providing decisive support, The New York Times reported. Washington applied sustained pressure on senior Iraqi leadership regarding her situation, sending representatives to Baghdad demanding advancement, according to the outlet. Mark Savaya, a business executive and Trump associate who had assumed critical involvement and would subsequently receive appointment as special envoy to Iraq, accompanied her flight to Cyprus, where Israeli military aviation collected her for homeward transport, the outlet reported.

"I genuinely believe I would have died if they had not engaged so consistently and with such incredible determination," Tsurkov told The New York Times.

Hostility defines Israel-Iraq relations, absent any diplomatic channels, according to The New York Times. Iranian alignment characterizes much of Iraqi governance, with Iran standing as Israel's principal adversary, the outlet reported.

Tsurkov had completed multiple visits to Iraq, conducting research into the Shiite faction under the guidance of influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, The New York Times reported. Precautionary measures were always taken on these trips, she informed the outlet: using a Russian passport, presenting as a Russian national, and avoiding contact with armed groups.

On March 21, 2023, Tsurkov was scheduled to meet a woman at 9:00 p.m. at a central Baghdad coffee establishment. WhatsApp introductions preceded this appointment, with the contact requesting assistance with Islamic State research while claiming shared acquaintance connections. Retrospective analysis led Tsurkov to view this arrangement as deliberate entrapment.

A dark sport utility vehicle approached as she proceeded homeward, with multiple men compelling her into the rear seating, The New York Times reported. Help calls and escape attempts followed, she recounted to the outlet, but kidnappers responded by beating and sexual assaulting her, the specifics of which the outlet agreed to withhold. "They started twisting my pinkie, almost breaking it," she recounted, The New York Times reported. "So I thought resisting more was pointless."

Transit involved zip-tie wrist restraints, her head covered with fabric, and phone confiscation, The New York Times reported. A vehicle stop forced her into trunk confinement. Approximately thirty minutes following abduction, the arrival occurred at a substantial residence. Four and a half months of residence in a camera-monitored windowless chamber followed, with inadequate nutrition and complete isolation, The New York Times reported.

Initially, her Israeli nationality remained unknown to abductors, suggesting ransom-motivated kidnapping, she informed The New York Times. One month into detention, circumstances worsened when phone evidence revealed her Israeli citizenship. Israeli espionage accusations followed, which both she and Israeli officials speaking with the outlet categorically rejected, The New York Times reported.

Her digital advocacy record and published material supporting Palestinian causes while critiquing Israeli governance became her defense, she told The New York Times. Persuasion failed with her captors, according to the outlet.

Confession refusal resulted in being "strung up and tortured," she informed The New York Times. Fabricated admissions to her interrogators commenced shortly afterward as a means to halt physical abuse, she told The New York Times.

Constructing plausible "confessions" without endangering Iraqi individuals became her focus, The New York Times reported. Her initial false testimony involved meeting a French journalist at a Baghdad café two years prior to coordinating anti-government protests. Her interrogators accepted this narrative, removing her from suspension, granting her permission to sit, providing her with food, and allowing her to rest.

That same day brought unwanted physical contact from the senior jailer, identified by others as "the colonel," who groped a thigh tattoo while threatening rape. "He was very filthy and very obsessed with sex," she told the outlet. Such threats from interrogators occurred constantly without execution, she informed The New York Times.

In July 2023, she endured the most severe torture sessions when kidnappers questioned her Israeli service, The New York Times reported. She claimed she worked in a hospital, while informing The New York Times that her actual role involved conscription into a low-level military intelligence directorate two decades earlier.

Two jailers, known as Ibrahim and Maher, delivered repeated beatings until she told the truth, she told The New York Times. "This tooth is missing because of that," she stated to The New York Times, indicating an oral gap.

July 5, 2023, marked Israel's inaugural public recognition of Tsurkov's abduction, declaring "we hold Iraq responsible for her fate and safety," The New York Times reported.

Her transfer arrived "by the grace of God," she told The New York Times. New custodians eliminated torture while introducing nursing care, according to the outlet. Books, notebooks, television equipment, and an Arabic thesaurus arrived, the outlet reported. Dietary variety and abundance replaced previous conditions, The New York Times reported. June 2024 renovations expanded her access to kitchen and bathroom facilities, according to the outlet. Yet solitary confinement persisted for more than two years within third-story windowless quarters, The New York Times reported. "I never saw the sun," she told The New York Times.

Her location and Israeli official assessments placed her at a Kataib Hezbollah installation near Iran's border, within territory beyond Iraqi governmental authority, The New York Times reported. Israel's twelve-day summer Iranian bombing operation brought strikes close enough to create structural vibrations, she informed the outlet.

Hundreds of millions in ransom demands from the militia received no serious consideration from American and Israeli officials, both current and former, The New York Times reported. In November 2023, she made a video appearance on Iraqi television, providing initial public confirmation of her continued survival, The New York Times reported. Couch-seated positioning accompanied scripted Hebrew statements claiming Israeli intelligence and CIA employment, The New York Times reported. Coded messaging conveyed the cruelty she experienced.

False residence claims in the Gan HaHashmal neighborhood signaled electrocution, with "hashmal" representing Hebrew electricity terminology, The New York Times reported. Fictional intelligence handler names incorporated wordplay for "torture" across Hebrew, English, and Russian languages, including "Ethan Nuima," where E. Nuim phonetically resembles "inuim," Hebrew's torture term, according to the outlet. Broadcast editing excluded these names, the outlet reported.

Months accumulated while constant pain from her injuries generated despondency and survival value questioning, The New York Times reported. Yet analytical thinking, she mapped her doctoral thesis by filling notebook pages alongside article concepts. Television glimpses of release campaign efforts, including her sister's interview appearances, elevated her emotional state, The New York Times reported.

On September 9, she met with Mark Savaya, one of her primary credited liberators, who described himself as a trump associate. American assistance requests from Israel followed, The New York Times reported. Adam Boehler, serving as US hostage envoy, became a dedicated advocate through social media campaigns and challenges to al-Sudani for enhanced action, according to the outlet. The intrusion by Boehler into the Baghdad meeting occurred uninvited during al-Sudani's discussions, according to three knowledgeable individuals who spoke anonymously to The New York Times about sensitive diplomatic matters. State Department senior adviser Massad Boulos met with the Tsurkov family last spring, promising them additional life confirmation, The New York Times reported.

Israeli elimination operations over recent years targeting senior Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iranian officials had unsettled Kataib, with her status shifting from asset to liability, she told The New York Times.

White House commentary avoided a direct discussion of Savaya's involvement, issuing statements that Trump "is always concerned about Americans detained abroad" while remaining "willing to leverage our country's strength and his negotiating skills to intervene in this case," The New York Times reported. Baghdad's prime ministerial office credited "complex diplomatic and humanitarian efforts" by official Iraqi entities for her freedom, adding that "external threats or pressures had nothing to do with the Iraqi decision," The New York Times reported.

She was subsequently transported to the US Embassy. Embassy officials established video connections with her sisters, Emma and Avital, as well as Boehler, according to the outlet. "Are you alive? Because I buried you so many times in my head," Emma asked. "She said she was okay, but she would need medical care," according to the outlet.

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Israel is conducting negotiations with Iran for the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was abducted in Iraq in March, Saudi outlet Asharq Al-Awsat said Sunday.

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According to the report, Israel will in exchange release an Iranian the Mossad arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on Israelis in Cyprus.

Video: Kataib Hezbollah training in Iraq, Arab media

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has opened an investigation into the kidnapping of Israeli citizen Elizabeth Tsurkov in Baghdad in March, a government spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

Tsurkov went missing after going to Iraq for research purposes on behalf of Princeton University, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday.

The office said that she is being held there by Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah, a group backed by Iran.

"Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive and we see Iraq as responsible for her fate and well being," the statement said, adding that the situation is being handled by the relevant bodies in Israel.

The Iraqi spokesperson said the government was waiting for the results of the investigation and had no further comment. A spokesperson for Kataib Hezbollah could not be reached.

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A dual Israeli-Russian academic who has been missing in Iraq for months is being held by an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday.

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Netanyahu's office said Elizabeth Tsurkov, who disappeared in late March, is still alive "and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being."

Video: Reuters / Iraq marks 20th anniversary of war

A senior Israeli official said Tsurkov was not Mossad agent. The official noted that she was an easy target because she traveled in Iraq and interviewed people for her research. It should be noted that in the past she expressed views that were considered critical of Iran and supportive of rebel groups in Syria, which is allied with Iran.

"She is not a Mossad agent, period," the official said, dismissing such speculation. The source refused to comment on the demands that may have been communicated by her captors and on the specific means Israel is using to have her released.

Tsurkov, whose work focuses on the Middle East, and specifically war-torn Syria, is an expert on regional affairs and has been widely quoted over the years by international media.

She is a fellow at the Washington-based think tank New Lines Institute. Her colleague Hassan Hassan, editor-in-chief of New Lines Magazine, said co-workers were notified of her kidnapping in Iraq on March 29. Hassan told The Associated Press that some of her colleagues had been in touch with her just days before she went missing.

"We could not believe the news, knowing what Iraq is like for any scholar or researcher in recent years," he said. "But there is hope that she will be released through negotiations."

Hassan said they have reached out to American and foreign officials, including at Princeton University where Tsurkov is pursuing her doctorate, for assistance.

He added that they "called on the United States government to be involved in securing her release, despite her not being a US national."
Netanyahu said Tsurkov is being held by the Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah, which is one of Iraq's most powerful Iran-backed groups. He said Tsurkov is an academic who visited Iraq on her Russian passport, "at her own initiative pursuant to work on her doctorate and academic research on behalf of Princeton University."

A senior official from Kataib Hezbollah declined to comment on the matter. Iran emerged as a major power broker in Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003, supporting Shiite groups and militias that have enjoyed wide influence in the country ever since.

There has been no official comment from Iraq since Tsurkov went missing. Days after her disappearance, a local website reported that an Iranian citizen who was involved in her kidnapping was detained by Iraqi authorities. It said the woman was kidnapped from Baghdad's central neighborhood of Karradah and Iran's embassy in the Iraqi capital is pressing for the man's release.

Netanyahu's office said Tsurkov's case is being handled by the "relevant parties in the State of Israel out of concern for Elizabeth Tsurkov's security and well-being."

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The trucks were traveling from Basra when they were targeted between Diwaniya and Samawah. Gunmen forced the drivers to exit the vehicles and then set the vehicles on fire, according to the report.

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Sources in the Iraqi Interior Ministry told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that, while it's still too early to say who was behind the attack, it seems to have been carried out by one of the pro-Iranian militias based in the country, rather than the Islamic State group.

According to Lebanon's Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen TV, US fighter jets could be heard in the vicinity of the reported convoy attack and over Baghdad.

Photos shared on social media reportedly from the scene, showed the trucks engulfed in flames. There were no reports of American casualties in the incident.

Earlier Saturday, unidentified warplanes carried out an airstrike on a convoy that killed 35 pro-Iranian militiamen in the Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported.

The attack occurred in the Albukamal region along the Iraqi border, where Iran has built its sprawling Imam Ali base to safeguard the border crossing between Syria and Iraq.

According to the report, two high-ranking militia commanders were killed in the strike.

In the past, both Israeli and American air forces have attacked Iranian targets in the area.

Social media reports in Syria identified the targeted militias as Kata'ib Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group that is especially active in Syria. Both militias are considered Iranian proxies.

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Iraqi officials said the embassy's recently installed C-RAM air defense system may have attempted to intercept the rocket as the system was operational late Saturday. A recent spate of rocket attacks has struck close to the US embassy and targeted American troops on Iraqi bases. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

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The rocket was launched from the Ali Al-Saleh area of Baghdad and landed next to a house close to a local TV channel late Saturday, the military statement said. A child suffered head injuries and the house was damaged.

Iraqi security forces say they also thwarted another attack in the Umm al-Azam area aiming to hit Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, a training base used by US-led coalition forces.

In March, two Americans and one British soldier were killed following a barrage of rockets on Camp Taji.

The latest uptick in attacks comes shortly before Iraq embarks on strategic talks with the US in which the presence of American forces in the country is expected to top the agenda.

The US has criticized the federal government for being unable to reign in Iran-backed militia groups it believes are orchestrating the attacks. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has pledged to protect American installations from attacks, US officials said.

Iraqi security forces last week raided the headquarters of the powerful Iran-backed paramilitary Kataib Hezbollah and detained 14 men suspected of being responsible for rocket attacks targeting the Green Zone. Thirteen detainees were later released and one remains in custody.

The move drew praise from the US but condemnation from Iran-backed political factions in Iraq.

The US embassy began testing the new air defense system late Saturday, the Iraqi officials said. It drew condemnation from Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hassan al-Kaabi, who called on the government to take action against the "illegal" move which would "provoke the Iraqi people," according to a government statement.

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The US strikes appeared limited in scope and narrowly tailored, targeting five weapons storage facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah militants – including facilities used to store weaponry for past attacks on US-led coalition troops, the Pentagon said.

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Iraq's military said in a statement that the US airstrikes hit four locations in Iraq.

The US military did not estimate how many people in Iraq may have been killed in the strikes, which officials said were carried out by piloted aircraft.

But there no was no indication of the kind of high-profile killings that US President Donald Trump authorized in January, when the United States targeted a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in a Pentagon statement detailing the strikes, cautioned that the United States was prepared to respond again, if needed.

"We will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region," Esper said.

Trump was quick to authorize the US military to respond following Wednesday's attack in Iraq, in which militants fired dozens of 107 mm Katyusha rockets from a truck, striking Iraq's Taji military camp north of Baghdad.

Out of the roughly 30 rockets fired, some 18 hit the base. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was the third time in recent months the US military lashed out against Kataib Hezbollah. It killed more than two dozen militants in December in response to an attack on an Iraqi base that killed a US contractor.

It was unclear whether the latest strikes would deter the militants from further action. The rocket attack on Taji took place on what would have been Soleimani's 63rd birthday, suggesting the militants were still looking for revenge.

Dennis Ross, a former US ambassador now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank, cast doubt on the Pentagon's ability to deter Kataib Hezbollah.

"Regrettably, these attacks on our forces will continue as Iran has no problem fighting to the last of the Shiite militias and believe they can force us out of Iraq," he said on Twitter.

Iran retaliated for the US drone strike that killed Soleimani by launching missiles from its territory at an Iraq base hosting US troops – leaving more than 100 US forces with brain injuries.

In the latest attack, 14 US-led coalition personnel were wounded, including American, British, Polish and other nationals. Private-industry contractors were among the wounded.

US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters that five of the wounded were categorized as "urgent," suggesting serious injuries that could require rapid medical evacuation.

The UK named its fallen service member as Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon. The United States has not yet identified the US service members killed.

In a sign of concern that tensions between the United States and Iran could be headed toward open conflict, the Democratic-led US House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday to limit Trump's ability to wage war against Iran.

The Republican president has been engaged in a maximum-pressure campaign of renewed sanctions and near-constant rhetoric against Iran, after pulling the United States out of the international nuclear deal reached during the administration of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have mostly played out on Iraqi soil in recent months.

Iran-backed paramilitary groups have regularly been rocketing and shelling bases in Iraq that host US forces and the area around the US Embassy in Baghdad.

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The officials, who cautioned the death toll may rise given the severity of some of the injuries, said it was too soon to assign blame. Any indication that Iran-backed militias were responsible could spark a new round of confrontation between the United States and Iran.

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and they "underscored that those responsible for the attacks must be held accountable," the State Department said.

One of the officials said five service members were seriously wounded and evacuated from the base and seven others were still being evaluated. Buildings on the base were in flames.

Army Col. Myles Caggins, a US military spokesman in Iraq, confirmed that three personnel from the US-led coalition were killed and about 12 were wounded, but did not provide details about what country they were from. The US military said that the names of those killed would be released after family notifications.

Caggins, in a statement, said that about 18 107mm Katyusha rockets struck the base and that Iraqi Security Forces found a rocket-rigged truck a few miles from Camp Taji. Such Russian rockets have been used in the past by Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq.

Another US official said that as many as 30 rockets were fired from the truck launcher, but 18 hit the base.

Officials did not say what group they believe launched the rocket attack, but Kataib Hezbollah or another Iranian-backed Shiite militia group is likely.

Camp Taji, located just north of Baghdad, has been used as a training base for a number of years. There are as many as 6,000 US troops in Iraq, training and advising Iraqi forces and conducting counterterror missions.

Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for a late December rocket attack on a military base in Kirkuk that killed a US contractor, prompting American military strikes in response.

That, in turn, led to protests at the US embassy in Baghdad. They were followed January 3 by a US airstrike that killed Iran's most powerful military officer, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which Kataib Hezbollah is a member.

Kataib Hezbollah been designated a "foreign terrorist organization" by the US State Department since 2009.

Later on Wednesday, Syrian opposition activists and a war monitor reported an airstrike that targeted Iranian militia positions along the Iraq-Syria border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 10 airstrikes carried out by three unidentified aircraft that targeted pro-Iran militias in the Al Bukamal region in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq. The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the Syria war through a network of activists on the ground, said at least 10 explosions were heard and that at least 26 militia fighters with the Iraqi paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi were killed.

US officials said the strike was not related to the Taji base strike at all. But it was not immediately clear who conducted the attack.

The Washington Post cited an anonymous US official as saying that while the strike did happen, US fighter jets were not part of the attack.

Syrian activist Omar Abu Layla said the unidentified airstrike targeted Iranian militia positions in the Al Bukamal region.

Syrian state-run media also reported an aerial attack in the Al Bukamal region near the Iraqi border that caused material damage.

Israel has repeatedly warned Iran that it would not let it use Syria's civil war as cover for expanding its regional influence. According to reports, Israel's "campaign between wars," in which it has attacked bases and forces affiliated with Iran, has included attacks in the Al Bukamal region.

Israel is determined not to allow Iran to build drone bases, missile factories and proxy terrorist networks with which to threaten its citizens, and the Israeli Air Force operates around the clock to monitor and disrupt emerging threats.

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It's a network that was developed over nearly two decades by Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed along with senior Iraqi fighters in a US airstrike near Baghdad's international airport overnight. He enjoyed the fierce loyalty of tens of thousands of fighters in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip who received aid, arms, and training from Tehran.

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Iran has used such groups in the past to strike its regional foes, including Israel, and could mobilize them if the killing of Soleimani ignited an armed conflict – dramatically expanding the battlefield.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that a "harsh retaliation is waiting" for the US after the airstrike, calling Soleimani the "international face of resistance."

Here's a look at Tehran's allies in the Mideast:

Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq

Iran has trained, financed, and equipped Shiite militias in Iraq that battled US forces in the years after the 2003 invasion and remobilized to battle the Islamic State group a decade later.

The groups include Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kata'ib Hezbollah and the Badr Organization, all three led by men with close ties to Soleimani, the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force.

The leader of Kata'ib Hezbollah, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was killed in the strike that felled Soleimani. The US blamed his group for a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base last week that killed a US contractor. It responded with airstrikes over the weekend that killed 25 of his fighters.

The militias fall under the umbrella of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were incorporated into the country's armed forces in 2016. Together they number more than 140,000 fighters, and while they fall under the authority of Iraq's prime minister, the PMF's top brass are politically aligned with Iran.

US forces and the PMF fought side-by-side against Islamic State militants after Iraq's parliament invited the US back into the country in 2014. But in recent months militia leaders have called on US troops to leave again, threatening to expel them by force if necessary.

Hezbollah

The militia, whose Arabic name translates into "Party of God," was established by Iran's Revolutionary Guards during Lebanon's civil war in the 1980s. Today it is among the most effective armed groups in the region, extending Iran's influence to Israel's doorstep.

Hezbollah was formed to combat Israel following its invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It waged an 18-year guerrilla war against Israeli forces, eventually forcing them to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000. Six years later, it battled Israel to a bloody stalemate in a monthlong war.

Today, the group has an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles that can reach deep into Israel, as well as thousands of highly disciplined and battle-hardened fighters. Hezbollah has fought alongside government forces in Syria for more than six years, gaining even more battlefield experience and expanding its reach.

At home, the group's power exceeds that of the Lebanese armed forces, and it is part of a political alliance that now leads the government and parliament.

Hezbollah has said it is not seeking another war with Israel, and it is not likely to join in any regional confrontation – at least not in the early stages – unless provoked. Hezbollah has lost hundreds of fighters in Syria, exacting a heavy toll on the Shiite community from which it draws most of its support.

The Houthis

Yemen's Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict on the side of the government the following year. The war has since killed tens of thousands of people and generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Saudi Arabia views the Houthis as an Iranian proxy, and along with Western nations and UN experts has accused Tehran of providing arms to the rebels, including the long-range missiles they have fired into Saudi Arabia. Iran supports the rebels but denies arming them.

The Houthis have given up little ground since the coalition entered the war, and have targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with long-range missiles. Last year they claimed a drone attack that shut down a major oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which responded with airstrikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital that killed civilians.

Islamic Jihad and Hamas

Iran has long supported Palestinian terrorist groups, including Gaza's Hamas rulers and particularly the smaller Islamic Jihad group.

Hamas fell out with Iran after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, losing millions of dollars in monthly assistance, but Tehran is said to have continued its military support to Hamas' armed wing.

Tensions have run high in Gaza since Israel's targeted killing of an Islamic Jihad commander last month, which set off a brief two-day bout of fighting. Hamas, which has been negotiating a period of calm with Israel through Egyptian mediators, stayed on the sidelines.

Hamas is in a severe financial crisis and appears to get most of its aid from Qatar, making it less likely that it would rally to Tehran's side in a regional conflict. But Islamic Jihad, still smarting from the recent fighting, could be keen to join in any regional conflict by firing rockets.

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The withdrawal followed calls from the government and senior militia leaders. It ended a two-day crisis marked by the breach of the largest and one of the most heavily fortified US diplomatic missions in the world.

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The attack and its volatile aftermath prompted the Pentagon to send hundreds of additional troops to the Middle East and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to delay a European and Central Asian trip.

In an orchestrated assault, hundreds and perhaps thousands of militiamen and their supporters broke into the embassy compound, destroying a reception area, smashing windows and spraying graffiti on walls to protest US airstrikes against an Iran-backed militia over the weekend that killed at least 30 fighters, according to some reports.

The US blamed the militia for a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base in the northern city of Kirkuk last week that killed a US defense contractor and wounded two others.

The protesters set up a tent camp overnight and on Wednesday set fire to the reception area and hurled stones at US Marines guarding the compound, who responded with tear gas. There were no injuries on either side and no American staff was evacuated from the compound.

The Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of state-allied Shiite militias – many backed by Iran – called on its supporters to withdraw in response to an appeal by the Iraqi government, saying "your message has been received."

By late afternoon the tents had been taken down and the protesters relocated to the opposite side of the Tigris River, outside the so-called Green Zone housing government offices and foreign embassies. US Apache helicopters circled overhead.

"After achieving the intended aim, we pulled out from this place triumphantly," said Fadhil al-Gezzi, a militia supporter. "We rubbed America's nose in the dirt." US President Donald Trump has vowed to exact a "big price" for an attack he blamed squarely on Iran.

Kata'ib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia targeted by the US airstrikes, initially refused to leave but later bowed to demands to disperse. The militia is separate from the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon, though both are backed by Iran.

"We don't care about these planes that are flying over the heads of the picketers. Neither do we care about the news that America will bring Marines," said Mohammed Mohy, a spokesman for Kata'ib Hezbollah. "On the contrary, this shows a psychological defeat and a big mental breakdown that the American administration is suffering from," he said, before withdrawing from the area.

The violence came as Iran and its allies across the region have faced unprecedented mass protests in recent months and heavy US sanctions have cratered Iran's economy.

Iraq has been gripped by anti-government protests since October fueled by anger at widespread corruption and economic mismanagement, as well as Iran's heavy influence over the country's affairs. Those protesters were not involved in the embassy attack.

The Pentagon sent an infantry battalion of about 750 soldiers to the Middle East. A US official familiar with the decision said they would go to Kuwait. Pompeo postponed a trip that was scheduled to start in Ukraine late Thursday so that he can monitor developments in Iraq and "ensure the safety and security of Americans in the Middle East," said State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.

Iran denied involvement in the attack on the embassy. Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted by media as saying that "if the Islamic republic makes a decision to confront any country, it will do it directly."

Iran later summoned the Swiss charge d'affaires, who represents American interests in Tehran, to protest what it said was warmongering by US officials.

Public consular operations at the embassy were suspended and future appointments canceled, it said in a statement.

Tensions have steadily risen since Trump withdrew the US from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and embarked on a campaign of maximum pressure through economic sanctions. Iran has responded by abandoning some of its commitments under the deal and ratcheting up its belligerent behavior in the region.

US officials, as well as other countries, have blamed Iran for the sabotage of oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and a drone attack on Saudi oil facilities in September that caused a spike in world oil prices. But the Trump administration has not responded with direct military action, perhaps fearing a wider conflict.

The US has sent more than 14,000 additional troops to the Gulf region since May in response to concerns about Iranian aggression. At the time of the attack, the US had about 5,200 troops in Iraq, mainly to train Iraqi forces and help them combat Islamic State extremists.

The US and Iran have vied for influence over Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Iran has close ties to Iraq's Shiite majority and major political factions, and its influence has steadily grown since then.

Iran helped to mobilize tens of thousands of mostly Shiite militiamen to battle the Islamic State group when it stormed across northern and western Iraq in 2014 as the armed forces collapsed. The US and Iran both provided vital aid to Iraqi forces, who eventually declared victory over the extremists in December 2017.

The political influence of the Popular Mobilization Forces has risen in recent years, and their allies dominate the parliament and the government. That has made them the target of the anti-government protesters, who have attacked Iranian diplomatic missions and the local headquarters of parties affiliated with the militias across southern Iraq.

They have also set up a sprawling protest camp in central Baghdad, and for weeks have been trying to enter the Green Zone. Iraqi security forces have beaten them back with tear gas and live ammunition, killing hundreds.

The militiamen and their supporters, however, were able to quickly enter the Green Zone and mass in front of the embassy, with little if any resistance from authorities.

Iraq's government vehemently condemned the airstrikes on the militia, saying it violated national sovereignty. But Iran and its allies might have also seen the attack as a way of diverting attention from the anti-government protests.

"Iran has been trying to provoke the US into helping it solve its Iraq problem," said the Crisis Group, an international think tank. "The Trump administration, by responding to the attacks in Kirkuk and elsewhere with airstrikes, has obliged."

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No US casualties or evacuations were reported after the attack earlier Tuesday by hundreds of Iran-supported militiamen. US Marines were sent from Kuwait to reinforce the compound.

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US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday night that "in response to recent events" in Iraq, and at Trump's direction, he authorized the immediate deployment of the infantry battalion from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He did not specify the soldiers' destination, but a US official familiar with the decision said they will go to Kuwait.

"This deployment is an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against US personnel and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today," Esper said in a written statement.

Additional soldiers from the 82nd Airborne's quick-deployment brigade, known officially as its Immediate Response Force, were prepared to deploy, Esper said. The US official, who provided unreleased details on condition of anonymity, said the full brigade of about 4,000 soldiers may deploy.

The 750 soldiers deploying immediately were in addition to the 14,000 US troops who had deployed to the Gulf region since May in response to concerns about Iranian aggression, including its alleged sabotage of commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf. At the time of the attack, the US had about 5,200 troops in Iraq, mainly to train Iraqi forces and help them combat Islamic State extremists.

The breach of the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday was a stark demonstration that Iran can still strike at American interests despite Trump's economic pressure campaign. It also revealed growing strains between Washington and Baghdad, raising questions about the future of the US military mission there.

"They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat. Happy New Year!" Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon, though it was unclear whether his "threat" meant military retaliation. He thanked top Iraqi government leaders for their "rapid response upon request."

American airstrikes on Sunday killed 25 fighters of an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kata'ib Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades. The US said those strikes were in retaliation for last week's killing of an American contractor and the wounding of American and Iraqi troops in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the US blamed on the militia. The American strikes angered the Iraqi government, which called them an unjustified violation of its sovereignty.

While blaming Iran for the embassy breach, Trump also called on Iraq to protect the diplomatic mission.

"Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many," he tweeted from his estate in Florida. "We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the US Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!"

Even as Trump has argued for removing US troops from Mideast conflicts, he also has singled out Iran as a malign influence in the region. After withdrawing the US in 2018 from an international agreement that exchanged an easing of sanctions for curbs on Iran's nuclear program, Trump ratcheted up sanctions.

Those economic penalties, including a virtual shut-off of Iranian oil exports, are aimed at forcing Iran to negotiate a broader nuclear deal. But critics say that pressure has pushed Iranian leaders into countering with a variety of military attacks in the Gulf.

Until Sunday's US airstrikes, Trump had been measured in his response to Iranian provocations. In June, he abruptly called off US military strikes on Iranian targets in retaliation for the downing of an American drone.

Robert Ford, a retired US diplomat who served five years in Baghdad and then became ambassador in Syria, said Iran's allies in the Iraqi parliament may be able to harness any surge in anger among Iraqis toward the United States to force US troops to leave the country. Ford said Trump miscalculated by approving Sunday's airstrikes on Kata'ib Hezbollah positions in Iraq and Syria – strikes that drew a public rebuke from the Iraqi government and seem to have triggered Tuesday's embassy attack.

"The Americans fell into the Iranian trap," Ford said, with airstrikes that turned some Iraqi anger toward the US and away from Iran and the increasingly unpopular Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

The tense situation in Baghdad appeared to upset Trump's vacation in Florida, where he is spending the holidays.

Trump spent just under an hour at his private golf club in West Palm Beach before returning to his Mar-a-Lago resort in nearby Palm Beach. He had spent nearly six hours at his golf club on each of the previous two days. Trump spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and emphasized the need for Iraq to protect Americans and their facilities in the country, said White House spokesman Hogan Gidley.

Trump is under pressure from some in Congress to take a hard-line approach to Iranian aggression, which the United States says included an unprecedented drone and missile attack on the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry in September. More recently, Iran-backed militias in Iraq have conducted numerous rocket attacks on bases hosting US forces.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a supporter of Trump's Iran policy, called the embassy breach "yet another reckless escalation" by Iran.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blamed Iran for the episode and faulted Trump for his "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran.

"The results so far have been more threats against international commerce, emboldened and more violent proxy attacks across the Middle East, and now, the death of an American citizen in Iraq," Menendez said, referring to the rocket attack last week.

By early evening Tuesday, the mob had retreated from the compound but set up several tents outside for an intended sit-in. Dozens of yellow flags belonging to Iran-backed Shiite militias fluttered atop the reception area and were plastered along the embassy's concrete wall along with anti-US graffiti. American Apache helicopters flew overhead and dropped flares over the area in what the US military called a "show of force."

The embassy breach was seen by some analysts as affirming their view that it is folly for the US to keep forces in Iraq after having eliminated the Islamic State group's territorial hold in the country.

A US withdrawal from Iraq is also a long-term hope of Iran, noted Paul Salem, president of the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

And it's always possible Trump would "wake up one morning and make that decision" to pull US forces out of Iraq, as he announced earlier with the US military presence in neighboring Syria, Salem said. Trump's Syria decision triggered the resignation of his first defense secretary, retired Gen. Jim Mattis, but the president later amended his decision and about 1,200 US troops remain in Syria.

Trump's best weapon with Iran is the one he's already using – the sanctions, said Salem. He and Ford said Trump would do best to keep resisting Iran's attempt to turn the Iran-US conflict into a full-blown military one. The administration should also make a point of working with the Iraqi government to deal with the militias, Ford said.

For the president, Iran's attacks – directly and now through proxies in Iraq – have "been working that nerve," Salem said. "Now they really have Trump's attention."

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