(CNN) The State Department urged US citizens Friday to leave Iraq immediately following an airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump that killed Qasem Soleimani, a key Iranian military commander at Baghdad International Airport.

"Due to heightened tensions in Iraq and the region, we urge U.S. citizens to depart Iraq immediately," the State Department tweeted

They also warned that citizens "should not approach" the embassy in Baghdad and that all consular operations are suspended "due to Iranian-backed militia attacks at the U.S. Embassy compound." The Green Zone in Baghdad, which includes the US Embassy, was completely locked down by Iraqi security forces to prevent any emergency following the strike, two Iraqi security sources told CNN.

The State Department's announcement comes hours after Trump ordered the airstrike that killed Soleimani, who was the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force unit and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

The killing of the top military leader marks a major escalation in tensions pitting Tehran against the US and Washington's Gulf Arab allies in the region.

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