Iraq experienced a nationwide blackout Wednesday after its entire power grid shut down, with all transmission lines and generating stations going offline simultaneously, according to the Electricity Ministry.

The cause of the failure remains unclear as the country faces mounting instability tied to the escalating U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Explosions were reported in Erbil, and pro-Iranian militias claimed attacks near key military bases in Erbil and Baghdad.

Following the outage, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens to leave Iraq immediately or shelter in place if departure was unsafe, Turkey Today has reported.

The U.S. Department of State had already maintained a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory and ordered non-emergency personnel to exit the country due to security concerns.