US Iran Talks : US Ambassador Warns of Heightened Risk, Calls on Staff to Depart Israel Promptly

US Iran Talks : On Friday, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee informed embassy staff that if they wish to leave Israel, they should do so “today”. According to the New York Times, in an email addressed to US mission personnel at 10:24am, he instructed them to secure any flight that would continue to travel to Washington, with the top priority being to leave the country quickly.”There is no need to panic,” he added, “but those who wish to leave should make plans to leave sooner rather than later.”

If the United States attacks, Iran has stated that US military outposts in the region will be deemed valid targets, putting tens of thousands of American service members at danger. Iran has also vowed to attack Israel, raising the possibility of another regional war in the Middle East.

US-Iran talks

Trump wants Iran to stop enriching uranium and scale back both its long-range missile development and its support for regional armed organisations. Iran claims it will only address nuclear concerns and that its atomic activity is purely peaceful.

On February 19, Trump gave Iran 15 days to strike an agreement. While Iran has insisted that the talks focus entirely on its nuclear program, the US wants Tehran’s missile development and support for extremist organisations limited.

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The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Trump’s negotiating team would demand that Iran demolish its three key nuclear installations and hand over all of its remaining enriched uranium to the US.

Iran said Friday that in order to reach an agreement, the US will have to drop its “excessive demands,” dampening hope following negotiations viewed as a last-ditch effort to avoid war.

A previous attempt at discussions failed when Israel began strikes on Iran in June, sparking a 12-day conflict in which the United States briefly participated to bomb Iranian nuclear targets.