U.S. closes embassy in Syria

In light of the ongoing violence in Syria and stymied diplomatic efforts, the U.S. closed down its embassy in Syria on Monday, pulling all of its staff out of the country.

“The United States has suspended operations of our embassy in Damascus as of February 6. Ambassador (Robert) Ford and all American personnel have now departed the country,” a State Department statement said.

“The recent surge in violence, including bombings in Damascus on December 23 and January 6, has raised serious concerns that our embassy is not sufficiently protected from armed attack,” the statement reads. “We, along with several other diplomatic missions, conveyed our security concerns to the Syrian government but the regime failed to respond adequately.”

Russia and China recently vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that condemned Bashar al-Assad’s government, sparking outrage from the international community. In an interview with NBC, President Barack Obama said that a negotiated solution is still possible.

“It is important to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention and I think that’s possible,” he said in an NBC interview.

“My sense is you are seeing more and more people inside of Syria recognising that they need to turn a chapter and the Assad regime is feeling the noose tightening around them. This is not a matter of if but when.”