CENTCOM chief shelves Senate testimony as nonessential embassy staff, troops’ dependents depart region; Iranian defense minister threatens to strike US bases amid stalled talks
The United States is drawing down the presence of people who are not deemed essential to operations in the Middle East due to the potential for regional unrest, the US State Department and military said Wednesday as tensions with neighboring Iran rose amid deteriorating nuclear talks.
“President Trump is committed to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad. In keeping with that commitment, we are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies. Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our Mission in Iraq,” a State Department official told The Times of Israel.
Trump later confirmed that some US personnel are being moved out of the Middle East “because it could be a dangerous place.”
“We’ll see what happens… We’ve given notice… Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he told reporters before attending “Les Miserables” at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Earlier Wednesday, two US officials told The Associated Press that the State Department was preparing to order the departure of all nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Baghdad due to the potential for regional unrest.
The department also authorized the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait, giving them an option on whether to leave the country.
In addition, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the Middle East, a US official said. Another US official said that it was mostly relevant to family members located in Bahrain — where the bulk of them are based.
Tensions in the region have been rising in recent days as talks between the US and Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program appear to have hit an impasse.
In light of mounting friction, Michael Kurilla, who directs American forces in the Middle East as the head of US Central Command, postponed his testimony before US lawmakers he was set to give on Thursday, according to two officials.
Kurilla was set to testify in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee. US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program 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 program 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 Wednesday that it looked increasingly unlikely that the talks would happen.
However, a US official later told Reuters that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff plans to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Sunday and discuss Iran’s response to the recent American proposal for a nuclear deal.
Trump, who has previously threatened to use military force against Iran 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, which was recorded on Monday.
US Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, said during comments Wednesday at the Kennedy Center that he does not know if Iran wants a nuclear weapon. Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas however said Hegseth on Wednesday “confirmed that Iran’s terrorist regime is actively working toward a nuclear weapon.”
“For the sake of our national security, the security of our allies, and millions of civilians in the region this cannot be allowed to happen,” said Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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 Defense Minister Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh told journalists Wednesday that he hoped talks with the US would yield results, though Tehran stood ready to respond with strikes on American bases in the region.
“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.”