The US government has ordered all non-essential embassy staff to leave Beirut after an updated security review, the BBC reports.
The decision comes amid rising tensions in the region, with US President Donald Trump threatening to use military force against Iran if a nuclear deal is not reached. Iran has vowed to respond to any US attack, with US military bases in the Middle East also being targeted. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has cancelled a visit to Israel amid the tensions, without giving a reason.
A senior US State Department official said the security situation was being regularly assessed and that the decision to reduce the number of staff in the region was based on the latest review. The official stressed that the embassy in Beirut remains operational and is staffed by essential staff. This is a temporary security measure to protect staff while maintaining the ability to operate and support US citizens.
About 50 embassy staff will leave Beirut. No specific reason was given for the partial evacuation, but it comes after Trump said that “bad things could happen” to Iran if it cannot reach an agreement on the terms of its nuclear program. The US president’s rhetoric has raised concerns about a possible Iranian response, and
Iran’s supreme religious leader Ali Khamenei has threatened US forces on social media.
Washington believes that the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is responsible for the deadly 1983 attacks on US Marine barracks and the embassy.
Trump said on the 19th of February that the world will know in the next 10 days whether a deal can be reached on Tehran’s nuclear program or whether the US will have to attack Iran. Both the US and its European allies suspect Iran is moving towards developing nuclear weapons, a claim Iran has consistently denied. The US and Iran reported some progress after talks in Switzerland last week.
However, the US continues to increase its military presence near Iran, with aircraft carriers, destroyers and a number of warships stationed there. The world’s largest warship, the USS Gerald R Ford, is also reportedly on its way to the region. BBC Verify has previously confirmed that the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is off the coast of Oman, about 700 kilometres from Iran.
Trump’s ostensibly ten-day deadline will expire in late February, but it is unclear what will happen after that, or whether the Americans are planning to strike sooner.
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