Trump says US personnel moved as Iran tensions mount
Trump also reiterated that he would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, amid mounting speculation that Israel could strike Tehran's facilities.
Iran threatened Wednesday to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out.
A US official had earlier said that staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while there were reports that personnel were also being moved from Kuwait and Bahrain.
"Well they are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place," Trump told reporters in Washington when asked about the reports of personnel being moved.
"We've given notice to move out and we'll see what happens."
Trump then added: "They can't have a nuclear weapon, very simple. We're not going to allow that."
Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The two sides were due to meet again in coming days.
Trump had until recently expressed optimism about the talks, but said in an interview published Wednesday that he was "less confident" about reaching a nuclear deal.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails.
The US president says he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran's nuclear facilities to give the talks a chance, but has increasingly signaled that he is losing patience.
Iran however warned it would respond to any attack.
"All its bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries," Iran's Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail.
'Suffer more losses'
"God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed," the minister said, adding that the US side "will suffer more losses" if it came to conflict.
The United States has multiple bases in the Middle East, with the largest located in Qatar.
In January 2020, Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq housing American troops in retaliation for the US strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani days before at the Baghdad airport.
Dozens of US soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Amid the escalating tensions, the UK Maritime Trade Operations, run by the British navy, also advised ships to transit the Gulf with caution.
Iran and the United States have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a "non-negotiable" right and Washington calling it a "red line."
Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.
Western countries have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Last week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear program and that Washington "cannot have a say" on the issue.
During an interview with the New York Post's podcast "Pod Force One," which was recorded on Monday, Trump said he was losing hope a deal could be reached.
"I don't know. I did think so, and I'm getting more and more -- less confident about it. They seem to be delaying and I think that's a shame. I am less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago," he said.
Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years.
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Euronews
37 minutes ago
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Israel deports Greta Thunberg and activists aboard Gaza aid boat
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Upon her arrival in Paris – while on her way back to her home country of Sweden – Thunberg urged for the release of the other activists who were taken into custody aboard the Madleen flotilla. She characterised the situation during their detention as "quite chaotic and uncertain." The conditions they faced 'are absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now," she added. The trip was meant to protest Israeli restrictions on aid to Gaza's population of over 2 million people after 20 months of war, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey. "We were well aware of the risks of this mission," Thunberg noted. 'The aim was to get to Gaza and to be able to distribute the aid.' She said the activists would continue trying to get aid into the enclave and breach what she called an unjust siege. On Monday, US President Donald Trump called Thunberg 'strange' and 'a young angry person' and recommended she take anger management classes. "I think the world need a lot more young angry women," Thunberg said Tuesday in response to Trump, who she's clashed with online on previous occasions. She also asserted that some of the activists detained experienced difficulties in contacting their lawyers. Asked why she agreed to deportation, she said, 'Why would I want to stay in an Israeli prison more than necessary?' The activist urged her supporters to demand their governments not only allow humanitarian aid into Gaza but, more crucially, to seek an end to the occupation and to the ongoing systemic oppression and violence that Palestinians endure daily. She added that recognition of a Palestinian state is the absolute minimum governments around the world can do to help. Thunberg was among 11 other passengers aboard the Madleen. Early Monday, Israeli naval forces captured the vessel without any incident approximately 200 kilometres from Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, in conjunction with various rights organisations, stated that Israel's actions in international waters constitute a violation of international law. Israel however denies this accusation, asserting that these ships aim to violate what it claims is a legitimate naval blockade of the territory. The group said three activists, including Thunberg, had been deported. A journalist who was on board the vessel was also released and deported back to Paris. Sabine Haddad, a spokesperson for Israel's Interior Ministry, stated that the activists deported on Tuesday waved their rights to present their case before a judge. She added that all the remaining passengers aboard the Madleen will be held in detention for 96-hours prior, where they will be presented before a judge and their deportations scheduled for after the hearing. 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"While the years of conflict and displacement have weakened administrative capacity, staff at the finance ministry and central bank demonstrated strong commitment and solid understanding." Around 6 million people are estimated to have fled Syria during more than a decade of civil war and the United Nations estimates that 90% of those who stayed lived in poverty and relied on humanitarian aid to survive. Half a million people were killed in the conflict. Damascus now anticipates investments and business projects with Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others, as they re-establish flight paths and hold high-level political and economic meetings. US President Donald Trump said that Washington will lift decades-long sanctions against Syria, but it is unclear how long that process could take. The European Union and the United Kingdom have also eased some restrictions. Meanwhile, oil-rich nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar paid of Syria's debt to the World Bank, valued at nearly $15 billion (€13 billion). The IMF said it is developing a roadmap for Syria's policy and capacity building priorities for key economic institutions, including the finance ministry, central bank and statistics agency. But Syria has a laundry list of reforms it must undertake, including improving its tax collection system, making sure its national budget can pay public sector salaries and basic healthcare and education, empowering the central bank to take measures to bring back confidence to the local currency and rehabilitate its outdated and battered banking system in line with international standards. In 2017, the United Nations estimated that rebuilding Syria would cost about $250 billion (€218 billion). Since al-Assad was overthrown at the end of last year, some experts say that number could be as high as $400 billion (€350 billion).
