Oman confirms next round of US-Iran nuclear talks amid fears of regional risks
DUBAI: The sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks will be held on Sunday in Muscat, the Omani foreign minister said on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that Tehran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Trump said on Wednesday U.S. personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because "it could be a dangerous place".
Reuters reported earlier that the U.S. was preparing an evacuation of its Iraqi embassy and would allow military dependents to leave locations around the Middle East due to heightened security risks in the region, according to U.S. and Iraqi sources.
The four U.S. and two Iraqi sources did not say what security risks had prompted the decision. Reports of the potential evacuation pushed up oil prices by more than 4% before prices eased on Thursday.
Foreign energy companies were continuing their operations as usual, a senior Iraqi official overseeing operations in southern oilfields told Reuters on Thursday.
A U.S. official said the State Department had authorized voluntary departures from Bahrain and Kuwait.
The State Department updated its worldwide travel advisory on Wednesday evening to reflect the latest U.S. posture.
"On June 11, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel due to heightened regional tensions," the advisory said.
The decision by the U.S. to evacuate some personnel comes at a volatile moment in the region. Trump's efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran appear to be deadlocked and U.S. intelligence indicates that Israel has been making preparations for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
"They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we'll see what happens," Trump told reporters. "We've given notice to move out."
Asked whether anything could be done to lower the temperature in the region, Trump said: "They can't have a nuclear weapon. Very simple, they can't have a nuclear weapon."
Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if stuttering talks over its nuclear programme fail and in an interview released earlier on Wednesday said he was growing less confident that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium, a key American demand.
While the evacuation of non-essential personnel raised concerns about a possible regional escalation, a senior Iranian security official told Iran's Press TV on Thursday that U.S. military dependents leaving did not constitute a threat.
SHIPPING WARNING
On Wednesday, Iran's defence minister warned Washington that Tehran would hit U.S. regional bases if drawn into a war in the case of nuclear talks failing.
The United States has a military presence across the major oil-producing region, with bases in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the Middle East, a U.S. official said. Another U.S. official said that was mostly relevant to family members located in Bahrain - where the bulk of them are based.
On Wednesday Britain's maritime agency warned that increased tensions in the Middle East might lead to an escalation in military activity that could impact shipping in critical waterways. It advised vessels to use caution while travelling through the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Straits of Hormuz, which all border Iran.
Tensions inside Iraq have heightened since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with Iran-aligned armed groups in the country repeatedly attacking U.S. troops, though attacks have subsided since last year. (Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Idrees Ali, Humeyra Pamuk and Steve Holland and Jeff Mason in Washington, Michelle Nichols in New York, Ahmed Rasheed and Timour Azhari in Baghdad and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai and Ahmed Elimam; Additional reporting by Sam Tabahriti in London; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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