US Evacuates Non-emergency Personnel From Beirut Embassy
By Steph Whiteside, Kellie Meyer
The State Department has ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. personnel and eligible family members from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, a senior State Department official told NewsNation.
“We continuously assess the security environment, and based on our latest review, we determined it prudent to reduce our footprint to essential personnel,” the official said.
The embassy will remain operational with core staff and the official said the measure is temporary.
The move comes as President Donald Trump has threatened to take military action against Iran if the country does not capitulate to his demands regarding its nuclear program.
The two countries have been engaging in diplomatic talks, but the president has reportedly told advisers that if those talks fail and a targeted strike does not work, he will consider large-scale action with the goal of regime change.
The U.S. has said Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, the capacity to build them or enrich uranium. Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi has said Iran does have the right to enrich uranium.
Trump has been building up the U.S. military presence in the Middle East even as diplomatic talks continue, issuing repeated warnings about what will happen if talks fail.
“It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen,” Trump said Thursday.
Iran has stated it would respond forcefully to any attacks, raising the risks of conflict in the region.
