The United States announced Monday that it has closed its embassy in Syria and pulled American diplomats out of the country due to the worsening security situation there. All embassy personnel were withdrawn, including Ambassador Robert Ford, and embassy operations were suspended. “We, along with several other diplomatic missions, conveyed our security concerns to the Syrian government, but the regime failed to respond adequately,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. Nuland said that Ford would retain his position as U.S. ambassador to Syria and would continue to work in Washington.
