US Evacuates Its Embassy Personnel From Middle East Countries: What's Happening
The U.S. State and Defense Departments began preparing to evacuate nonessential personnel from several locations in the Middle East on June 11, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said, in response to mounting tensions in the region, writes CNN.
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A defense official said US Central Command (CENTCOM) was monitoring "escalating tensions in the Middle East."
"They are being taken out because it could be a dangerous place. We'll see what happens," President Donald Trump told reporters on June 11.
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The plans to remove the personnel come amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel as the Trump administration continues to push for a new nuclear deal with Iran.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized voluntary departure of military family members from a number of locations in the Middle East.
"The safety of our service members and their families remains our top priority. U.S. Central Command is closely monitoring tensions in the Middle East," the department said. The tensions prompted Gen. Michael Kurilla, the CENTCOM commander, to postpone a Senate hearing he was scheduled to testify at on June 12, a Defense Department spokesman said.
The State Department plans to order the departure of nonessential personnel from U.S. embassies in Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait amid growing security threats in the region, another U.S. official familiar with the matter said.
In addition, the sources said, an order was being prepared to move non-essential personnel from the U.S. consulate in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan. An Iraqi government spokesman said the move was not related to the threat level in his country.
"President Trump is committed to ensuring the safety and security of Americans at home and abroad. As part of that commitment, we continually evaluate the required personnel levels at all of our diplomatic missions. Based on our most recent review, we have made the decision to reduce the number of personnel at our mission in Iraq," a State Department spokesman said in response to questions about the reasons for the change in position.
The State Department updated its travel advisory, noting that the order for non-essential U.S. government personnel to leave was issued "in light of heightened regional tensions."
Trump has previously said his confidence in reaching a deal with Iran to curb the country's nuclear ambitions has weakened, while Tehran may "drag out time" to reach an agreement.
"I'm less and less confident about it. They seem to be dragging their feet, and I think that's a disgrace. Yeah, I'm less confident now than I was a couple of months ago," Trump said in a June 11 interview with a New York Post podcast.
"Something happened to them, but now I'm much less confident that the deal will go through," he continued, adding that his "instincts" were telling him to do so.
CNN reported on June 11 that Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop talking about attacking Iran.
The two leaders spoke by phone on June 9. Trump later said the call went "very well, very smoothly."
The United States received new intelligence last month that Israel was preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, several U.S. officials familiar with the latest intelligence confirmed.
The United States has detected signs of Israeli military preparations, including the movement of airborne munitions and the end of air force exercises, two intelligence sources said.
But officials stressed that it was not clear whether Israeli leaders had made a final decision, and they acknowledged deep divisions within the U.S. government about the likelihood that Israel would actually take such action.
Iran's defense minister warned on June 11 that if nuclear talks with the United States fail and conflict breaks out, the United States "will have to leave the region."
Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh said that in such a case, “the enemy will certainly suffer heavy losses,” although he did not specify who exactly he meant by “the enemy”: the United States, Israel, or both countries.
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In statements carried by Iran's state news agency IRNA, the defense minister said some on the other side "made threatening statements about a possible conflict if the talks" between the U.S. and Iran fail.
“In this case, the US will have no choice but to leave the region, because all their bases are within the reach of the Iranian armed forces, and they will not hesitate to strike them in all the countries where they are located,” Nasirzadeh concluded.
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