U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat advises Americans to maintain high level of vigilance

AKIPRESS.COM - The U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat has advised all U.S. citizens of heightened tensions in the region.
The Embassy encouraged the American citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and to practice good situational awareness.
The statement came after the U.S. airstrike that killed a prominent Iranian general in Baghdad raised tensions even higher between Tehran and Washington, after months of trading attacks and threats across the wider Middle East, The Associated Press reports.
How Iran will respond remains in question as well, though its supreme leader warned that a "harsh retaliation is waiting" for those who killed Revolutionary Guard Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani early Friday morning. That could include anything, from challenging U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, firing ballistic missiles or deploying the asymmetrical proxy forces Iran has cultivated to cover for its long-sanctioned conventional forces.
Soleimani's death is the latest in a series of escalating incidents traces back to President Donald Trump's decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw America from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers. However, overall enmity between Iran and the U.S. date back to its 1979 Islamic Revolution, as well as a 1953 U.S.-backed coup in Tehran that cemented the power of its ruling shah over an elected prime minister.