Partial evacuation of US embassies in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq
Iran threatens to strike US bases in region; Kuwait urges IAEA cooperation
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/VIENNA: The United States Department of State on Wednesday was preparing to order nonessential embassy personnel and family members to leave Kuwait and Bahrain, the Associated Press reported. The US embassy in Iraq is also preparing for an evacuation, an Iraqi security official and a US source told Reuters on Wednesday.
'The State Department is set to have an ordered departure for (the) US embassy in Baghdad. The intent is to do it through commercial means, but the US military is standing by if help is requested,' a US official said. An Iraqi foreign ministry official said a 'partial evacuation' of US embassy staff had been confirmed due to what the official termed 'potential security concerns related to possible regional tensions'.
US military dependents in Bahrain can temporarily depart due to the heightened regional tensions, a US official told Reuters. Another US official said that there was no change in operations at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military base in the Middle East and that no evacuation order had been issued for employees or families linked to the US embassy in Qatar, which was operating as usual.
This came after Iran threatened Wednesday to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out, while US President Donald Trump said he was 'less confident' about reaching a nuclear deal. Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his 'maximum pressure' campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails. 'All its bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries,' Iran's Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail.
'God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed,' the minister said, adding that the US side 'will suffer more losses' if it came to conflict. The United States has multiple bases in the Middle East, with the largest located in Qatar. Iran and the United States have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a 'non-negotiable' right and Washington calling it as a 'red line'.
On Monday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog began a board of governors meeting in Vienna that will last until Friday to discuss Iran's atomic activities and other issues. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting followed a report issued by it criticizing 'less than satisfactory' cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites. Iran has criticized the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on 'forged documents' provided by its Zionist arch-foe.
Kuwait on Wednesday called on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA. More cooperation from Tehran would allow the UN nuclear agency's inspection teams to carry out their work with more efficiency and accuracy, Kuwaiti permanent delegation to the UN member Dr Sara Al-Ajmi told the IAEA's board of governors. Such a measure would pave the way for a more comprehensive nuclear agreement that ensures the wider region's security and stability, she added, underlining Kuwait's backing for the mandate of the UN nuclear watchdog, which aims to promote and monitor the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, she said.
Trump had previously expressed optimism about the talks with Iran, saying during a Gulf tour last month Washington was 'getting close' to securing a deal. But in an interview published Wednesday, Trump said he was 'less confident' the United States and Iran could reach a deal, in response to a question on whether he believed he could stop Tehran from enriching uranium.
Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries, including the United States and its ally the Zionist entity, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Last week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said enrichment is 'key' to Iran's nuclear program and that Washington 'cannot have a say' on the issue. During the interview with the New York Post's podcast 'Pod Force One', which was recorded on Monday, Trump said he was losing hope a deal could be reached. 'I don't know. I did think so, and I'm getting more and more — less confident about it. They seem to be delaying and I think that's a shame. I am less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago,' he said.
'Something happened to them but I am much less confident of a deal being made... Maybe they don't wanna make a deal, what can I say? And maybe they do. There is nothing final.' Trump maintained that Washington would not allow Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons, saying 'it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying'.
On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received 'elements' of a US proposal for a nuclear deal, with Araghchi later saying the text contained 'ambiguities'. Iran has said it will present a counterproposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticized for failing to offer relief from sanctions — a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years.
'As we resume talks on Sunday, it is clear that an agreement that can ensure the continued peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program is within reach — and could be achieved rapidly,' Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X on Wednesday. Another sticking point in the talks has been Iran's missile program. Ballistic missiles form an important part of Iran's arsenal. Nasirzadeh said that Tehran recently tested a missile with a two-ton warhead and does not accept limitations. Khamenei had said in February that Iran should further develop its military, including its missiles. – Agencies
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