US reduces presence of staffers not deemed essential in the Middle East as tensions rise
Washington (AP): The United States is drawing down the presence of staffers who are not deemed essential to operations in the Middle East and their loved ones due to the potential for regional unrest, the State Department and military said on Wednesday.
The State Department said it has ordered the departure of all nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Baghdad based on its latest review and a commitment "to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad." The embassy already had been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel.
The department, however, also is authorising the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait. That gives them the option of leaving those countries at government expense and with government assistance.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "has authorised the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations" across the region, US Central Command said in a statement. The command "is monitoring the developing tension in the Middle East."
Speaking at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump said, "They are being moved out, because it could be a dangerous place, and we'll see what happens. We've given notice to move out, and we'll see what happens."
Tensions in the region have been rising in recent days as talks between the US and Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme appear to have hit an impasse. The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions that the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.
The next round of talks — the sixth — had been tentatively scheduled for this weekend in Oman, according to two US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters. However, those officials said on Wednesday that it looked increasingly unlikely that the talks would happen.
Trump, who has previously said Israel or the US could carry out airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations failed, gave a less-than-optimistic view about reaching a deal with Iran, telling the New York Post's "Pod Force One" podcast that he was "getting more and more less confident about" a deal.
"They seem to be delaying, and I think that's a shame. I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them," he said in the interview recorded on Monday and released on Wednesday.
Iran's mission to the UN posted on social media that "threats of overwhelming force won't change the facts."
"Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon, and US militarism only fuels instability," the Iranian mission wrote.
Iranian Defence Minister Gen Aziz Nasirzadeh separately told journalists on Wednesday that he hoped talks with the US would yield results, though Tehran stood ready to respond.
"If conflict is imposed on us, the opponent's casualties will certainly be more than ours, and in that case, America must leave the region, because all its bases are within our reach," he said. "We have access to them, and we will target all of them in the host countries without hesitation."
Meanwhile, the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency was potentially set to vote on a measure to censure Iran. That could set in motion an effort to snap back United Nations sanctions on Iran via a measure in Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that is still active until October. Trump withdrew from that agreement in his first term.
Earlier on Wednesday, a statement from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre, a Mideast-based effort overseen by the British navy, issued a warning to ships in the region that it "has been made aware of increased tensions within the region which could lead to an escalation of military activity having a direct impact on mariners."
It urged caution in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz. It did not name Iran, though those waterways have seen Iranian ship seizures and attacks in the past.
The top US military officer for the Middle East, Gen Erik Kurilla, was scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, but that testimony has now been postponed, according to the committee's website. The Pentagon has not commented on the postponement.
Meanwhile, Iraq's state-run Iraqi News Agency said in a statement attributed to an unnamed government official that the evacuation of some nonessential employees from the US Embassy in Baghdad was part of "procedures related to the US diplomatic presence in a number of Middle Eastern countries, not just Iraq" and that Iraqi officials "have not recorded any security indicators that warrant an evacuation."
"We reiterate that all security indicators and briefings support the escalating assessments of stability and the restoration of internal security," the statement said.
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Iran''''s Mexico Embassy says Iran is negotiating with FIFA to move World Cup matches
Mexico City (AP): Iran's Embassy in Mexico on Tuesday said the country is negotiating with FIFA to move Iran's World Cup matches from the U.S. to Mexico after President Donald Trump discouraged the team from attending the tournament, citing safety concerns.
It was unclear whether such talks are happening with FIFA, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Iranian officials have previously said it is up to FIFA and the U.S. to keep the team safe during the World Cup.
The Embassy posted a statement attributed to Iranian soccer federation president Mehdi Taj saying Iran wants to move its group stage matches to Mexico to ensure the safety of players and officials.
“When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America,” the statement said. “We are currently negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran's matches in the World Cup in Mexico.”
The World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Iran is scheduled to play against New Zealand on June 16 and Belgium on June 21 in Inglewood, California, before finishing group play in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.
Moving the games would be unprecedented less than three months before the start of the World Cup.
Trump said last week that the Iran team was welcome at the World Cup despite the ongoing war in the Middle East but “I really don't believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”
Iran has sent mixed signals about its participation in the tournament after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks that killed the Islamic republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior figures.
Sports minister Ahmad Donyamali told state TV last week that it was not possible to play "due to the wicked acts they have done against Iran.”
But after Trump's post the national team said on Instagram that “no one can exclude” it from the tournament and a government spokesman in Tehran stressed in it was the responsibility of FIFA and the U.S. as a co-host nation to keep players safe and secure.
“FIFA is the organizer of the World Cup,” Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said. “When warnings are issued at the highest level about the environment being unsafe for Iranian football players, this indicates that the host country apparently lacks the capacity and ability to provide security for such an important sporting event.”
Soccer is followed passionately in Iran, a nation of more than 90 million people which has qualified for seven men's World Cups and each of the past four editions. The team is ranked No. 20 in the world by FIFA and behind only Japan from Asia.
FIFA has not commented in recent days beyond an Instagram post by president Gianni Infantino last week that he'd received assurances from Trump that Iran was welcome at the tournament.
