WASHINGTON, June 17. /ITAR-TASS/. US President Barack Obama has notified Congress that 275 military personnel are deploying to Iraq “to provide support and security for US personnel and the US Embassy in Baghdad”, the White House said in a statement released on June 16.

The personnel will assist the State Department “in connection with the temporary relocation of some staff from the US Embassy in Baghdad to the US Consulates Generals Basra and Erbil”. However, the US Embassy in Baghdad will remain open. The White House stressed in the statement that “the US military personnel are entering Iraq with the consent of the Government of Iraq”.

Obama said the US forces are deployed in Iraq to protect American citizens and, if necessary, their property. The military personnel will stay in the country until the security situation improves and they are no longer needed.

Last week, President Obama said that the US was looking at different scenarios of the US involvement in Iraq excluding sending ground troops. US media reported that the Pentagon considers air strikes on Iraqi extremists. Air carrier USS George H. W. Bush was sent to the Persian Gulf.