US clears some diplomatic staff to travel to Israel as tensions with Iran continue despite talks

The US State Department authorized non-emergency personnel and their family members to leave Israel on Friday, citing unspecified “security risks”.

The change in guidance from the State Department comes as the US continues negotiations with it Iran in a possible nuclear deal, Tehran hopes will avoid a US military attack that President Trump has prepared major export to the Middle East.

After the latest round of informal talks by Oman, held on Thursday in Geneva, Iran’s top diplomat said there was some progress on a new deal on his country’s nuclear enrichment program, calling it “one of the most serious and long-lasting talks” so far.

President Trump has threatened to attack Iran if no deal to strengthen its nuclear program is reached, and several foreign experts told CBS News on Thursday that talks appear unlikely to deliver a deal that both sides can live with. making an American invasion possiblepossibly soon.

The State Department did not mention Iran in its latest travel directives on Friday, but said it was authorizing the travel of US government employees and non-emergency family members to Israel due to security risks, noting that, “due to security incidents and without prior notice, the US Embassy may prohibit or prevent US government employees and their family members from traveling to certain areas of Israel, including the Old City of Jerusalem.”

“People may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available,” the State Department said. Flights to and from Israel and other regional airports are often grounded when the military threat increases.

US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump, led the talks with Iran on behalf of the Trump administration, and there was no reading from them or the White House at Thursday’s talks in Geneva.

Although few foreign analysts see many reasons for optimism, Iran – and the Omanis, who established negotiations aimed at avoiding US strikes that many believe could become a regional conflict – tried to paint Thursday’s meetings as successful.

“On some issues, now there is an understanding, while on others, it is natural to have differences,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led his country’s delegation to Geneva. “However, there was probably more seriousness on both sides than before, with the aim of reaching a negotiated solution.”

“It was agreed that the technical groups will start their work in Vienna on Monday to carry out a technical review at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the help of its experts, in order to create a framework to deal with certain technical problems,” said Araghchi, adding that following the consultation of both negotiating groups back in their capitals, “we will have a fourth round of negotiations next week.”

Mr Trump said, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated, that the president would prefer a negotiated solution to the dispute over Iran’s crippled nuclear program, which Rubio accused Tehran of trying to rebuild after US strikes in June last year that severely damaged three of the country’s main enrichment facilities.

President Trump has not made it clear whether he will accept a new deal that curbs Iran’s nuclear program without addressing other US grievances, particularly Iran’s collection of conventional ballistic missiles and its arsenal. support for armed “proxy groups”. in the region.

Vice President JD Vance told The Washington Post on Thursday that Mr. Trump was still considering military strikes to “make sure Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon,” but he’s also open to solving “this problem diplomatically.”

Vance downplayed warnings from many nations in the region, including America’s closest allies in the Mideast, that any US strike could lead to a war that would drag on other nations — and that would not end quickly.

“The idea that we’re going to be at war in the Middle East for years on end — there’s no way that’s going to happen,” Vance was quoted as saying by The Post.

While Mr. When Trump ordered the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, joining Israel in attacking the country, Tehran responded by saying. launching missiles at the largest US military base in the Middle East. Mr. Trump revealed that retaliation was telegraphed to the US in advance, and the missiles intercepted.

Iran, 10 days earlier, had fired a number of missiles at Israel in response to its attack, including one that slipped through Israel’s sophisticated air defenses as well. it stayed in the heart of its capitalTel Aviv.

While Israel did heavy damage to Iran’s missile capacity during the festival The 12 day war in Junesome foreign observers believe that Iran has bought back its weapons and has hundreds of rockets capable of targeting Israeli and American military assets in the region.

On Thursday, retired US Army Lieutenant General HR McMaster, a CBS News anchor who served as a national security adviser to the Trump administration, predicted that the Trump administration will not find enough compromise with Iran’s hardline Islamic rulers to avoid a new military conflict.

“The idea of ​​a theocratic dictatorship and its eternal hatred of the United States and Israel will result in intransigence and inability to accept enrichment, the missile program, and the support of terrorist organizations,” he said.

McMaster, who commanded U.S. forces in the Middle East while in the Army, said that instead of another limited strike like June’s “Operation Midnight Hammer,” which recently attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, “I think the opening operation will be broader, not a ‘signaling’ operation.”

Friday’s update of US travel advisories for Israel came as a long list of other countries issued similar warnings for their citizens to leave the country, as well as Iran.

Australia told dependents of its embassies in Israel and neighboring Lebanon to leave those countries on Wednesday, with voluntary departures being offered to dependents in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan, too, citing a “deteriorating security situation in the region.”

India, Brazil, Singapore and at least six European countries have, since mid-January, warned their citizens against visiting Iran and urged those in the country to leave, while Chinese media said on Friday that Chinese nationals in Iran should leave.