Dozens of Iraqi diplomats in Beirut boarded an Iraqi Airways plane to Baghdad with their families on Monday amid expectations of an Iranian attack on Israel, an official told The New Region.

An Iraqi official in Baghdad said that 73 elderly people, women and children, all of whom families of Iraqi diplomats in Beirut, were evacuated in anticipation of a deterioration in the security situation in Beirut as a result of the expected war between Iran, Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Amin al-Nasrawi, the charge d'affaires at the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut, in a conversation with The New Region denied that there had been an evacuation of the diplomatic mission personnel.

Nasrawi said that a number of embassy employees requested to take their annual leave at this time due to the current situation in Beirut and that they left the Lebanese capital with their families and returned to Baghdad.

He noted that the embassy is still open and 25 other members of the Iraqi diplomatic mission remain in Beirut "to run the embassy's business”.

The Iraqi diplomats’ return to Baghdad comes as the world is anticipating an Iranian attack on Israel in response to the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital last week.

Since Haniyeh's assassination, Iran has vowed a strong response, claiming that they are now committed to defend their honor as Haniyeh was a guest in their country.

Sources from pro-Iran Iraqi factions on Saturday told The New Region that that the response to Haniyeh’s assassination will be conducted by Iranian, Iraqi, Yemeni, Lebanese, Syrian, and Jordanian armed factions.

“The response will target Israel exclusively and will affect both its naval and ground interests,” a commander said, adding that despite the involvement of Iraqi factions, no attack will be conducted from Iraqi territory.

Haniyeh, who was attending a ceremony to celebrate the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday in a bombing that targeted his residence north of Tehran. Iran said Israel assassinated Haniyeh with a remotely fired missile.