US calls on American citizens to leave Iraq

The United States has urged its citizens to evacuate from Iraq amid heightened tensions in the region in the aftermath of the killing of Iran's top commander Qassem Soleimani.

The US State Department issued a statement on Friday calling on Americans to leave Iraq, and said all consular activities at its embassy in Baghdad are suspended.

Angry crowds hurled rocks at the US embassy compound in Baghdad (Reuters)

"US citizens should depart via airline while possible, and failing that, to other countries via land," the department said.

The announcement comes after thousands of people, the majority of them affiliated with the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMU), attacked the US embassy on Tuesday.

Angry crowds marched towards the usually high-security Green Zone to the embassy gates, where they hurled rocks towards the compound, outraged by US air raids in Iraq and Syria that killed 25 PMU fighters over the weekend.

"US citizens should not approach the Embassy," the department said.