US President Donald Trump has said the Middle East could be a “dangerous place” as the US prepares to partially evacuate staff from the Iraq embassy and allows military dependents to leave locations around the Middle East.
US intelligence indicates that Israel has been making preparations for a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Reuters reports.
“They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said on Thursday morning AEST. “We’ve given notice to move out.”
Since Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord, the country has resumed uranium production and now has plenty of fuel to make four or more bombs.Credit: AP
Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if stuttering talks over its nuclear programme fail.
“They can’t have a nuclear weapon. Very simple, they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Yesterday, Trump said in an interview he was growing less confident that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium.
The partial evacuations come during heightened tensions in a region after 18 months of war in Gaza and fears of a wider conflict pitting the US and Israel against Iran and its allies.
Four US and two Iraqi sources did not specify the security risks that had prompted the decision, while a US official said the State Department had authorised voluntary departures of military dependents from Bahrain and Kuwait.
“The State Department regularly reviews American personnel abroad and this decision was made as a result of a recent review,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said without giving further details.
Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Wednesday that if Iran was subjected to strikes it would retaliate by hitting US bases in the region.
Reuters
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