CBS News reports that U.S. officials have learned that Israel is ready to launch a military operation against Iran.
The U.S. fears retaliation by Tehran on some U.S. sites in neighboring Iraq. The State Department has ordered non-essential government officials to leave the country due to heightened regional tensions, while the Pentagon has authorized family members of military personnel to voluntarily leave their locations throughout the Middle East.
As reported by CBS, President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is still scheduling Iranian officials in the coming days for the sixth round of talks on the local nuclear program.
During a speech at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, President Trump also spoke about the issue, telling reporters that Americans have been advised to leave the region “because it could be a dangerous place, we’ll see what happens.” Trump also reiterated that the United States does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, saying, “We will not allow it.”
Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh told reporters that if the nuclear talks fail and “a conflict is imposed on us,” the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps would “target all U.S. bases in host countries.”
On Wednesday, the U.K. Maritime Trade Organization advised ships to exercise caution in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, three major routes for global oil trade, because of “rising tensions in the region that could lead to an escalation of military activities.”
The Trump administration has sought a deal with Iran to limit the country’s nuclear program, as international observers say the nation has continued to enrich uranium. For years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been deeply skeptical of any deal with Tehran. Last month, Trump publicly stated that he urged Netanyahu not to strike Iran while his administration pursues negotiations with the regime.
In 2015, former President Barack Obama had reached a deal with Tehran limiting the scope of the country’s uranium enrichment program, despite objections from Israel, which claimed Iran was unreliable and had secretly violated the agreement. Trump abandoned the deal during his first term and tightened sanctions against the nation.
In a report two weeks ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimated that Iran had enriched 408.6 kilograms of uranium to 60 percent purity, a level very close to the 90 percent enrichment required to build a nuclear weapon.
