Live Events(You can now subscribe to our(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channelAmid rising tensions between Israel and Iran, the United States is drawing down non-essential personnel from several diplomatic and military sites across the Middle East , citing growing regional instability.The State Department on Wednesday ordered the departure of all nonessential staff from the US Embassy in Baghdad, noting ongoing security concerns and a commitment to protecting American lives. While the embassy was already operating with limited personnel, the move marks a further scale-down.Additionally, nonessential staff and family members in Bahrain and Kuwait have been authorized to leave at government expense, the department confirmed.US Central Command said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved the voluntary departure of military dependents across the region as a precautionary step. "CENTCOM is monitoring the developing tension in the Middle East," the statement said.President Donald Trump, speaking at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, acknowledged the drawdown: “They are being moved out, because it could be a dangerous place, and we’ll see what happens.”The US and Iran appear to be at a diplomatic impasse over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. A sixth round of talks, initially set for this weekend in Oman, is now in doubt, according to two American officials.Trump, speaking on the Pod Force One podcast, said he was "getting more and more less confident" about a breakthrough with Iran. “They seem to be delaying... Something happened to them.”Iran, for its part, pushed back on the mounting pressure.
