U.S. Orders Partial Evacuation of Iraq Embassy Amid Escalating Iran Tensions.

Trump says US personnel “being moved out” of the Iran

According to US official sources, non-essential US embassy employees and their dependents in Baghdad are to be removed from Iraq because of increased security dangers.

According to the BBC US partner CBS, officials have been informed that Israel is prepared to undertake an operation in Iran, albeit they did not specify the exact reason for the evacuation.

According to officials, this was one of the reasons some Americans were told to leave the area, and they also stated they expected Iran to strike back at certain US locations in Iraq.

It comes as US negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program seem to have reached a standstill recently.

Officials informed CBS that US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff still intends to meet with Iran on Sunday to discuss its nuclear program.

According to Axios, Witkoff will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Muscat.

 “We are continuously assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies,” a US State Department official told the BBC.

We decided to lessen the impact of our mission in Iraq based on our most recent assessments.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center that Americans should evacuate the area “because it could be a dangerous place, and we’ll see what happens.”

Trump again restated the United States’ opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

He stated, “We’re not going to allow that.” To prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, the president has wanted to reach an agreement. He had an allegedly “tense” 40-minute phone conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, earlier this week.

Netanyahu has long advocated for a military strategy over a diplomatic one. The board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) started a meeting in Vienna on Monday to talk about Iran’s nuclear program and other matters.

It follows the publication of a report by the IAEA that criticized Tehran’s “less than satisfactory” cooperation, especially with regard to the explanation of previous instances of nuclear material discovered at unreported locations.

Iran said that the IAEA report was biased and that it was based on “forged documents” that Israel had supplied. It is unclear how much of the US announcement is a show of force rather than real worry at this crucial juncture in the nuclear negotiations.

However, if negotiations broke down and Trump ordered military strikes against the Islamic Republic, Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh warned that his nation would strike back against US bases in the area.

Additionally, according to the Reuters news agency, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the voluntary evacuation of American military personnel’s families from Middle Eastern nations, including Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Pentagon stated in testimony before a congressional subcommittee on Wednesday that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth believed Iran was “moving towards developing something resembling a nuclear weapon” and that there were “plenty of indications” supporting this claim.

Iran claims that it was not attempting to develop an atomic weapon and that its uranium enrichment program was for the production of civilian electricity.

The Royal Navy’s Maritime Trade Operations division in the United Kingdom issued a warning on Wednesday that shipping may be impacted by heightened military tensions in the Middle East.

When the US evacuation was announced, the price of oil first rose by over 4% in expectation of supply issues brought on by regional uncertainty.

According to the Defense Department, there are about 2,500 American soldiers stationed in Iraq.

Iran responded to the US strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 by firing missiles at US military air bases in Iraq.

Despite no casualties, the installation later diagnosed dozens of US military soldiers with traumatic brain injuries.