A US commissioner for International Religious freedom has warned Christians and other faith communities will face increased persecution in the Middle East, once US troops leave Iraq by the end of the year.

Rev. Johnnie Moore, who is also the President of the Congress of Christian Leaders was speaking with Glen Bleck, a conservative Christian political commentator.

In a clip that Bleck posted on social media he asked Rev Moore: “Should we be trying to convince those people…get out right now. Is this a time for a clarion call for all Christians in the Middle East?”

Rev Moore said: “I’m always hesitant to say ‘Get out right now." But these are decisions for these people to make. But I’m telling you, if I were sitting there in northern Iraq, watching the exact same people in Washington, D.C. do the exact same thing with another country…”

“And Glenn, everyone seems to have forgotten that Joe Biden said on July 27… just a few weeks ago that he wants all of the U.S. soldiers out of Iraq too, by the end of the year. So if I’m a Christian or Yazidi or another threatened community sitting in Iraq, yeah I would be getting out of there as quickly as I could.”

“The fact of the matter is we could see it all over again,” Moore added. “But once this genie is out of the bottle, you thought ISIS was bad five or six years ago, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

There have already been increasing reports of persecution in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, with Christians facing imprisonment or even death for their faith.