Kathmandu. The United States has ordered Pakistani consulate staff to leave Pakistan. It has also allowed the evacuation of missions in Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Oman.

“The U.S. State Department has ordered U.S. government employees working at the U.S. embassies in Pakistan, staff at the U.S. consulates in Lahore and Karachi, and their family members to leave Pakistan because of security risks,” the State Department said in a statement.

Earlier, the ministry had ordered US government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia, Oman and Cyprus due to security risks. Meanwhile, the ministry said it was taking steps to provide necessary assistance to citizens who wish to leave the Middle East and return to the United States.

More than 9,000 Americans have returned safely from the Middle East in the past few days, and more than 300 have returned from Israel. The United States and Israel launched the attack on Saturday, two days after U.S. envoys in Geneva held talks with Iran over the nuclear deal. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in an attack.

Since then, Iran has expanded its counteroffensive in the Middle East, with the United States and Israel destroying key Tehran sites and attacking the U.S. consulate on Tuesday.