ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The new building of the US consulate in Erbil will be operational next year but the staff will grow gradually due to developments in the Middle East, a State Department official said on Wednesday.
Director of the US Department of State's Bureau of Budget & Planning Douglas Pitkin, told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda during a press briefing on Wednesday that the new building of the US consulate in Erbil, which is currently under construction, will not cause a dramatic increase of the mission’s staff growth due to a recent reduction in Washington's operations in the Middle East.
“There's no specific increase but because of the reduced pace of operations, because of the situation in the region, we may expect these staffing to gradually grow... but it's designed to accommodate more staff but we can expect that but not a dramatic growth,” he said.
Robert Palladino, former consul general to Erbil, said during the structural completion of the building in 2021 that it will be the “biggest” consulate in the World.
“The new consulate will be a tangible sign - in concrete, steel and reinforced glass - of the long-term commitment of the United States to the Kurdistan region’s government and people,” said Palladino at the time.
The US initially opened a diplomatic office in Erbil in February 2007, which was later upgraded to a consulate general in 2011.
Richard Verma, Deputy Secretary of State for Management & Resources, told Rudaw during the Wednesday briefing that he had visited Erbil and met with US and Kurdish officials.
Verma said he was “very impressed with our level of commitment with the facility there. I don't know if the actual numbers will take up, but it will be one of our most significant presences in that part of the world. And it will be a very kind of full-service capability there.”
The US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) was formed in 2014 to support Iraqi and Kurdish fighters in the fight against the extremist group.
The US and the Kurdistan Region enjoy great political and military ties, with Washington continuing its military and financial support for the Kurdish Peshmerga despite the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq.
Two senior delegations from the Kurdistan Region have recently visited Washington, meeting with American officials, congressmen and representatives.
Drone and rocket attacks against US interests in Iraq by pro-Iran militia groups in recent months have impacted the activities of the US diplomatic mission in Iraq. These groups have called on the US to stop its support for Israel in the fight against Hamas.
The attacks have stopped in recent weeks following US retaliatory attacks on these groups.
