The US has ordered the resignation of non-essential embassy staff and their families from the Middle East over growing security concerns in the region.
The decision is in a clear deadlock in US-Iran nuclear talks, with President Donald Trump saying he is “low confidence” and the pair will reach a deal.
The State Department announced Wednesday that it would partially evacuate personnel from the US embassy in Baghdad to “keep both Americans at home and abroad safe.”
The US Embassy in Baghdad is already operating with a limited staffing capacity than security risks, and orders do not affect many staff.
The department has also approved the resignation of mandatory personnel and family members from embassies in Bahrain and Kuwait.
In a statement, U.S. Central Command said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses has approved “voluntary departures for military dependents” across the region, U.S. Central Command said. The command “monitors the developmental tensions of the Middle East.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the UK Maritime Agency issued warnings to local vessels that escalation of tensions could affect shipments. It encouraged people to be cautious in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Strait of Hormuz, all waterways bordering Iran.
The Iraqi state-run Iraqi News Agency said the evacuation of some essential employees from the US embassy in Baghdad was part of “a procedure relating to the diplomatic presence of the United States not only in Iraq but in many Middle Eastern countries.”
Tensions have recently escalated amid a deadlock in negotiations between the US and Iran over Tehran’s advanced nuclear program. The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has raised concerns about a wider conflict that could draw out allies in the United States, Israel, Iran, and its region.
Speaking at Washington’s Kennedy Center on Wednesday, President Trump said staff members are “moving because they could be dangerous.”
When asked if there was anything we could do to alleviate tensions in the region, Trump replied that Tehran “doesn’t have nuclear weapons first.”
The talks are seeking to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from the destructive economic sanctions the US has placed on the country. Iran says the nuclear program is peace.
Two officials who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the next talk and sixth round, which were scheduled tentatively this weekend, appear to be more likely to be cancelled.
In another interview with the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast, Trump said he is “increasingly confident.”
“They seem late, and I think it’s a shame. I’m less confident than they did a few months ago. Something happened to them,” he said in an interview released Wednesday.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations was posted on social media that “the threat of overwhelming power will not change the facts.”
The mission argued that American militarism “promotes instability only.”
Iran’s Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh told journalists separately on Wednesday that Tehran is ready to respond to the airstrikes.
“If a conflict is imposed on us, the other party’s victims will certainly be more than ours. In that case, America will have to leave the area as all the bases are within our reach,” he said. “We have access to them and will target them all in the host country without hesitation.”
The testimony was postponed, according to the committee’s website amid growing tensions with Tehran, where US military officer General Eric Kurira, will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The pentagon has not commented on the postponement.
