WASHINGTON (TNND) — The United States embassy in Jerusalem told its workers that they can leave Israel if they want to and encouraged them to do so quickly as President Donald Trump weighs strikes on Iran.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee sent an email to embassy employees Friday morning that said discussions with officials in Washington led to authorizing departures for people who want to leave, The Associated Press and others reported.
The email encouraged staff considering leaving the country to do so quickly and to get on any flight out of Israel and get to Washington. Huckabee said there was no need for panic but that it was important to make plans to leave soon for those wishing to leave the country. The State Department has taken similar precautions elsewhere in the region.
“Those wishing to take AD should do so TODAY,” Huckabee wrote. “While there may be outbound flights over the coming days, there may not be,” he added.
The message comes a day after another round of talks with Tehran over its nuclear program did not yield a deal. Some airlines have already announced plans to suspend flights out of Tel Aviv’s airport and other countries’ embassies are making plans to pull workers out of Israel and surrounding countries.
The U.S. has built up massive military forces in the Middle East as negotiations with Tehran have continued and Trump has threatened to use force if its leaders don’t make a deal to stop enriching uranium. Israel is likely to be targeted by retaliatory strikes by Iran or its proxy groups if the U.S. opts to launch a new strike.
Trump said last Thursday that he would decide between continuing negotiations or using military strikes in 10 days.
Six hours of indirect discussions on Thursday did not result in a breakthrough or a new impasse. The White House has not commented on the most recent round of talks but has scheduled another meeting in Vienna, the home of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media the talks were “long and intense.”
“We entered very seriously into the elements of an agreement, both in the nuclear field and in the sanctions field,” Araghchi said. “On some issues, understanding has now been established, and on some issues, it is natural that we have differences of opinion, and perhaps more than in the past, the seriousness on both sides was evident to reach a negotiated solution.”
Trump has frequently said Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon and claimed during his State of the Union address that it was developing missiles capable of reaching the U.S. Iran has denied both claims.
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