'Iran Can't Have Nuclear Weapon': Trump Orders US Personnel Out Of Middle East Amid Tensions
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Donald Trump stated the US will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and that his country was also relocating personnel from the Middle East due to safety concerns.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (US local time) said the United States won't allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. The President also said US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because 'it could be a dangerous place".
'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 can 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.
Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh also said on Wednesday that if Iran was subjected to strikes, it would retaliate by hitting US bases in the region.
The US embassy in Kuwait said in a statement on Wednesday that it had 'not changed its staffing posture and remains fully operational."
Meanwhile, the State Department updated its worldwide travel advisory on Wednesday evening to reflect the latest US posture.
'On June 11, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel due to heightened regional tensions," the advisory stated.
The decision by the US 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 multiple media reports suggested Israel was going ahead for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
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.
With Trump's statements, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorised the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the Middle East.
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 US troops, though attacks have subsided since last year.
Israel and Iran also twice exchanged fire last year – the first ever such direct attacks between the region's most entrenched enemies – with missiles and war drones hurtling across Iraqi airspace.
Top US regional ally Israel has also struck Iran-linked targets across the region, including Iraqi armed groups operating both inside Iraq and in neighbouring Syria.
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