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Washington has told non-emergency staff and family members that they can leave Israel, the US embassy in Jerusalem said on Friday, amid fears that a potential war between the US and Iran could spiral into a regional conflict.
It came as the UK said that its “staff have been temporarily withdrawn from Iran” and Canada urged its citizens to leave the Islamic republic, warning that “hostilities in the region could resume with little or no warning”. China, India and Poland have issued similar directives.
The US embassy said its move, which followed an order earlier this week for non-essential staff to evacuate the US mission in Lebanon, was due to “safety risks”, but did not elaborate on what they were.
The notice from the embassy added that the US could further restrict personnel from visiting certain parts of Israel, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem’s Old City “without advance notice”. “Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available,” it said.
The announcements come at a time of swirling tensions across the Middle East, with US President Donald Trump ordering the largest American military build-up in the region since the Iraq war in 2003 and threatening to launch strikes on Iran if it does not agree to a deal over its nuclear programme.
Iran has threatened to retaliate against US bases across the region if it is attacked, sparking fears of a broader confrontation that could draw in Israel, which fought a 12-day war with Iran last year.
The latest round of talks between the US and Iran, which have been mediated by Oman, took place in Geneva on Thursday. Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said “significant progress” had been made and that talks would “resume soon after consultation in the respective capitals”.
But the announcements by the US embassy in Jerusalem and the UK government underscored how fragile the situation remains. While Trump has said that his preference is for a diplomatic resolution, he has made clear that a military operation is also on the table.
Last Thursday, he said that the Islamic republic had a “maximum” of 15 days to reach a deal or “bad things will happen”. He also said he was considering limited strikes designed to press Tehran into making a deal.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said there had been “good progress” in Thursday’s talks, which he called “one of the best, most serious and longest rounds of negotiations” with the US.
“Positions have drawn closer to a mutual understanding in some areas,” he said. “We made good progress on the nuclear case and the lifting of sanctions.”
While US negotiators have not yet commented on the outcome of the Geneva talks, Tehran regards the lifting of US sanctions as essential for any sustainable and mutually acceptable deal.
Trump has given various reasons for a possible intervention in Iran, ranging from the need to curb its nuclear programme to ending its support for militant groups around the region. US officials have raised concerns about Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.
Trump also threatened strikes to “help” anti-regime protesters in Iran during mass rallies last month, and subsequently threatened action if Tehran executed any demonstrators. He later claimed to have prevented the executions of hundreds of people.
Amnesty International warned this week that Iran’s judiciary had sentenced eight people to death and said that 22 others, including two children, “are at risk of the death penalty amid fast-tracked torture-tainted grossly unfair trials”.
Iranian officials have not yet confirmed these figures, but the country’s judiciary has promised to prioritise cases related to last month’s protests and vowed to make no concessions.
While Iranian officials have indicated they are prepared to negotiate over the nuclear programme, Tehran has consistently said that it will not agree to stop enriching uranium, saying it has the right to do so for civil nuclear use as a signatory to a non-proliferation treaty.
Tehran has also bristled at US demands that negotiations simultaneously address Iran’s ballistic missiles — which it has used to retaliate against Israel and US military assets and allies in the region — and its support for militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hizbollah.
