After ordering nonessential U.S. diplomats and their families to leave Lebanon, the State Department said the move would preserve the U.S. Embassy in Beirut’s operations while narrowing the staff on the ground amid rapidly deteriorating regional security conditions.
In an updated travel alert released Monday, the department said it “ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members of government personnel due to the security situation in Beirut,” according to the alert. The department also said U.S. personnel who remain in Lebanon would have their in-country travel restricted.
A department official said earlier that a continuous assessment of the regional security environment determined it was “prudent” to draw down the embassy’s footprint so that only essential personnel remain at their posts. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the move was formally announced, said it was a temporary measure and that the embassy would remain operational.
The Lebanon decision reflects a pattern in the U.S.-Iran standoff, where changes in the staffing status of the Beirut mission have often been read as a signal about potential U.S. or Israeli military action in the region. Lebanon has hosted repeated Iran-related retaliatory attacks against U.S. facilities, interests and personnel for decades, including the deadly 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut and an embassy annex bombing in 1984, the report said.
The State Department’s order also arrived as the broader confrontation between Washington and Tehran intensified. The AP report said tensions have escalated as Trump built up what the report described as the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades, while repeatedly threatening action if Iran does not negotiate a deal to constrain its nuclear program. A second U.S. aircraft carrier is heading to the region to join other U.S. warships and aircraft, the report said, offering Trump “several options for a potential strike” even as talks continue.
Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said the U.S. and Iran plan to hold their next round of nuclear talks Thursday in Geneva, and a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, confirmed the meeting. Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, told CBS on Sunday that he expected to meet U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and said a “good chance” remained for a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue.
Araghchi, the report said, has previously said a proposed deal would be ready to share within days, and he told CBS that Iran was still working on it. Separately, the AP report said indirect talks between the longtime adversaries have made little visible progress, with Iran refusing to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands beyond the nuclear program, including calls for Iran to scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups.
The U.S. policy debate has also continued in public statements by Trump, according to the report. Asked Friday whether the U.S. could take limited military action as the countries negotiate, Trump said, “I guess I can say I am considering that.” He later told reporters that Iran “better negotiate a fair deal.”
The report also said a second State Department official, again speaking on the condition of anonymity because plans were not formally announced, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio may delay his intended visit to Israel this weekend.