The United States has ordered the evacuation of the embassy in Iraq amid escalating tensions in the region, as Israel considers launching military actions against Iran in the coming days without American support.
Israel is increasingly considering a unilateral attack on Iran as negotiations between Washington and Tehran seemed to be nearing an agreement that would include provisions on uranium enrichment, according to an advisor on Capitol Hill and other sources familiar with the situation for NBC News, as reported by Sky News.
An Israeli attack on Iran would mark a dramatic rupture in negotiations with the Trump administration, which has opposed such a decision.
A senior Iranian official stated on Thursday that Iran will not abandon what it considers its right to uranium enrichment despite increasing tensions in the region, despite U.S. demands to give up its uranium enrichment program.
Alert in U.S. embassies and bases in the Middle East
The prospect of a new front in the Middle East conflict has prompted the Trump administration to order all embassies within the range of Iranian missiles, aircraft, and other means to submit assessments of potential threats to Americans and American infrastructure, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
The U.S. State Department announced that it has ordered the evacuation of all non-essential personnel from its embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, due to potential regional disturbances, without specifically mentioning a possible Israeli attack on Iran.
The U.S. also authorizes the departure of non-essential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait, offering officials the option to decide whether to leave these countries.
An Iraqi government source told the state news agency in the country that Baghdad has not recorded any security indications requiring evacuation.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad already had limited staff, so the order will not affect a large number of employees, as reported by Sky News.
Additionally, maintenance staff at military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait will have the option to leave these countries at government expense and with government assistance.
When asked why American personnel are being moved from the Middle East, President Donald Trump responded on Wednesday evening: "They are being moved because it could be a dangerous place, and we will see what happens."
"They can't have a nuclear weapon, very simple, they can't have a nuclear weapon, we won't allow that," the American president firmly stated regarding Iran's nuclear program.
Iran does not back down and threatens the U.S., Trump's optimism fades
The U.S. and Iran have been in talks aimed at limiting Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting some of the severe economic sanctions imposed by America on the Islamic country.
The two states are trying to agree on a text that prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting sanctions that are crippling the Iranian economy.
Negotiations have stalled on the issue of uranium enrichment. The United States demands that Iran permanently give up uranium enrichment, while Tehran rejects this request, calling it non-negotiable and contrary to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), of which it is a signatory.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed state enriching uranium to a high level (60%), well above the 3.67% threshold set by the 2015 Vienna Agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue, from which Donald Trump withdrew the United States in 2018.
For the production of a nuclear bomb, a uranium enrichment level of 90% is required, according to the IAEA.
Tehran insists that its nuclear program is not a threat. Iran's mission to the UN posted on X that "threats of 'overwhelming force' will not change the facts." "Iran does not want a nuclear weapon, and American militarism only fuels instability," wrote the Iranian mission on Wednesday.
Furthermore, Tehran threatens to attack American military bases in the Middle East in the event of a conflict with the United States.
In the event of negotiation failure, if "we are forced into a conflict, the other side will surely suffer more losses than we will," warned Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, quoted by AFP. "Their bases are at our gates," and "the United States should leave the Middle East region," he threatened.
The United States has numerous military bases near Iran, the most important being in Qatar, where the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command in the Middle East (CENTCOM) is located.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in the Omani capital, Muscat, on Sunday to discuss the Iranian response to a recent U.S. proposal, according to an American official cited by Axios.
"I am much less confident (than before) that we will reach an agreement" with Iran, Donald Trump stated in a New York Post (NYP) podcast recorded on Sunday and broadcast on Wednesday. "They seem to be dragging their feet," emphasized the American president, who has repeatedly threatened to militarily attack Iran in case of diplomatic failure. "It would be much better to do it without war. Without deaths would be much better," he said, adding that he "does not see the same enthusiasm" from Iranians "towards reaching an agreement."
An almost impossible agreement
Iran claims to have received an unconvincing agreement proposal from the United States. The Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the final decision-maker in strategic matters, described this offer as "100% contrary" to his country's interests.
The American text - which has not been publicly disclosed - does not mention the issue of lifting sanctions, which Tehran prioritizes, according to Iranian Parliament President Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.
Iran announced on Monday that it will submit its own proposal to the United States in the coming days, while the IAEA is meeting this week in Vienna for an important quarterly meeting to review Iranian nuclear activities.
Three diplomatic sources told AFP that Europeans and the United States presented a resolution on Tuesday condemning Iran's "non-compliance" with its obligations in this area.
If the resolution is adopted, it will provide them with grounds to trigger a mechanism allowing for the reinstatement of UN sanctions against Iran, a clause provided for in the 2015 Vienna Agreement (JCPOA).
Iran has threatened to reduce its cooperation with the IAEA in case this resolution is adopted.
The 2015 agreement was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - China, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the United States - plus Germany.
In 2018, Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement, reinstated, and expanded American sanctions against Iran. In retaliation, Tehran withdrew from the agreement.
T.D.