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US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee mentioned embassy workers ought to go away sooner moderately than later as tensions rise over the prospect of a US strike on Iran.
US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. (Reuters)
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has urged embassy workers in Israel on Friday to go away the nation instantly in the event that they wished to depart, citing safety issues, in an indication of imminent American motion towards Iran amid a impasse in nuclear talks.
In an electronic mail despatched to the US mission staff at 10:24 am (native time) on Thursday, Huckabee mentioned those that wish to go away “ought to achieve this TODAY” and suggested them to safe seats on outbound flights from Ben-Gurion Airport as quickly as doable, reported the New York Instances.
The embassy has additionally shifted to an “authorised departure” standing, permitting non-essential personnel and their members of the family to go away at authorities expense, he wrote, describing the transfer as taken out of “an abundance of warning” after consultations with the State Division.
Huckabee additionally assured that there was no must panic, however added that staff ought to go away sooner moderately than later as tensions rise over the prospect of a US strike on Iran. Any assault on Iran might immediate a retaliation motion towards Israel, which is anticipated to hitch the US strikes.
Tensions between Iran and the US are on the rise on account of President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to strike Tehran towards the backdrop of the biggest American navy build-up within the Center East in many years. A number of international locations, together with India, have already suggested its residents to evacuate Iran as quickly as doable.
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US-Iran Nuclear Talks
The US and Iran have made “vital progress” within the third spherical of nuclear talks in Geneva on Thursday, in line with Oman, the mediator of the talks. Nevertheless, the possibilities of a deal to keep away from conflict stay unclear.
Iran’s International Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led Tehran’s delegation, described the negotiations as among the many “most intense and longest rounds” of discussions. He mentioned “good progress” had been made, with settlement reached on some points, although variations stay on others. He indicated the following spherical would happen in lower than every week.
In keeping with Iranian state media, Tehran’s negotiators reaffirmed Iran’s proper to pursue peaceable nuclear vitality. They rejected US calls for to halt uranium enrichment utterly and to switch the nation’s 400kg stockpile of enriched uranium overseas.
Iran Tells US To ‘Drop Extreme Calls for’
On Friday, Iran mentioned the US must drop its “extreme calls for” on Tehran’s missile programme after the Wall Road Journal reported that Trump’s negotiating workforce would demand that Iran dismantle its three primary nuclear websites and hand over all its remaining enriched uranium to the US.
In a dialog together with his Egyptian counterpart, Araghchi emphasised that “success on this path requires seriousness and realism from the opposite facet and avoidance of any miscalculation and extreme calls for”.
This got here after Trump mentioned in his State of the Union tackle that Iran had “already developed missiles that may threaten Europe and our bases abroad, and so they’re working to construct missiles that may quickly attain the US of America”. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted forward of the talks that the Islamic republic was not “in any respect” looking for a nuclear weapon.
(with inputs from businesses)
United States of America (USA)
February 27, 2026, 15:29 IST
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