US urges contractor to evacuate workers from Kuwait and Iraq over worries of Iran-backed attacks

Helicopters assigned to to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at the Erbil airbase in Iraq on 6 March 2025. Photograph: Capt Andrew Lightsey IV/101st Combat Aviation Brigade

The US government has called on the defense contractor V2X to evacuate its employees from Kuwait and Iraq, warning the company that they could be targeted by Iran-backed militias, four sources said.

The intervention follows reporting by the Guardian that V2X employees were stationed at US military bases in Kuwait, and at Martyr Brigadier General Ali Flaih airbase and Erbil in Iraq. Employees claimed having inadequate protections, receiving limited communications from the company about evacuation plans and being pressured to remain in the Middle East. In Iraq, workers say they are targets of Iran-allied attacks, and one employee was killed in a night-time drone attack in March.