US President Donald Trump said he has ordered the withdrawal of troops and non-essential staff from the Middle East citing "rising tensions in the region". The development comes amid reports of Israel preparing to strike nuclear sites in Iran.
Addressing presspersons, Trump said, "They (US military personnel) are being moved out (of some countries of the Middle East) because it could be a dangerous place and we will see what happens... We have given notice to move out...," ANI reported. Trump stressed the US will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. "They can't have a nuclear weapon. Very simple. They can't have a nuclear weapon. We're not going to allow that."
The recent development comes after nuclear deal talks between the US and Iran hit a standstill. According to CNN, the US defense department has ordered the withdrawal of troops and non-essential staff from embassies in Baghdad, Kuwait and Bahrain. Washington is also considering withdrawing non-essential troops from its consulate in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The US president on Wednesday said he was getting less confident about reaching a deal with Iran. In a podcast with the New York Post, Trump said on Wednesday, "They (Tehran) seem to be delaying, and I think that's a shame. I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them." Trump had earlier said Israel or the US could carry out airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations failed, AP reported.
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Meanwhile, Iran's mission to the UN posted on social media that "threats of overwhelming force won't change the facts." "Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon, and US militarism only fuels instability," the Iranian mission wrote.
Iranian Defence Minister Gen Aziz Nasirzadeh told journalists on Wednesday that Tehran was ready for a response and he hoped talks with the US would yield results. "If conflict is imposed on us, the opponent's casualties will certainly be more than ours, and in that case, America must leave the region, because all its bases are within our reach," Nasirzadeh said. "We have access to them, and we will target all of them in the host countries without hesitation," AP reported quoting the Iranian minister.
