US orders embassy to evacuate as Israel preps Iran attack

• IAEA says Iran not complying with nuclear obligations

The United States has told embassy staff in Baghdad are set to leave due to heightened security risks as Israel prepares strike Iran within days, opening a new war front that could complicate the existing Gaza war. .

President Donald Trump told media on Wednesday that ‘they are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place and we’ll see what happens.’ And White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that the decision was taken ‘as a result of a recent review.’

Fears of major war in the Middle East are high following poor outlook on the ongoing talks between Iran and the United States over nuclear enrichment that for which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) blames Tehran.

With President Donald Trump expressing frustration with Iran over the nuclear deals, Israel which has been impatient to deploy force in wiping off Iran’s nuclear programme appears unrestrained to strike its ancient enemy.

Trump declared on Wednesday that ‘we are not going to allow’ Iran to develop nuclear weapons; and Iran threatened to attack US interests in the Middle East.

Iranian Defence Minister, Aziz Nasirzadeh, warned that if talks do fail and ‘a conflict is imposed on us’, Iran ‘will target all US bases in the host countries.’

A strike on Iran would disrupt the ongoing talks with the United States, now approaching their sixth round. Oman confirmed this morning that it would host the expected US-Iran talks in Muscat on Sunday.

Israel has become more serious about a strike on Iran as the talks approach a preliminary or framework agreement that includes provisions about uranium enrichment that Israel views as unacceptable.

A lingering concern is that Iran could retaliate against US personnel or assets in the region for any action by Israel.

Israel has long been wary of any nuclear deal with Iran, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says that Israel has conducted multiple operations to restrain Iran’s nuclear programme.

Tehran said on Monday it would present a counter-proposal on a nuclear deal, suggesting Washington’s offer still contained ‘ambiguities’. It is also seeking relief from sanctions.

Iran and the US have been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a ‘non-negotiable’ right and Washington describing it as a ‘red line’.

Iran assures that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. But the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has not been able to verify this and in May published a damning report that claimed Iran had carried out secret nuclear activities with undeclared material.

Today, the IAEA found that Iran has failed to meet its nuclear non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years, likely to set back any talks.

U.S defence secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that there were ‘plenty of indications’ that Iran is moving towards developing a nuclear weapon, and political opponents of the regime claimed this week to have uncovered evidence that Tehran was intensifying efforts to acquire long-distance nuclear weapons.

‘There are plenty of indications that they have been moving their way towards something that would look a lot like a nuclear weapon,’ Hegseth said at a hearing on Wednesday.

A US defence official said Hegseth authorised the voluntary departure of military dependants from locations across the Middle East. Non-essential personnel and their family members have been allowed to leave in Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait – all sitting between Israel and Iran.

In Israel, Netanyahu’s hard-right government survived an opposition bid to dissolve parliament on Thursday, as lawmakers rejected a bill that could have paved the way for snap elections.

Out of the Knesset’s 120 members, 61 voted against the proposal, with 53 in favour.

The opposition had introduced the bill hoping to force elections with the help of ultra-Orthodox parties in the governing coalition angry at Netanyahu over the contentious issue of exemptions from military service for their community.

While the opposition is composed mainly of centrist and leftist groups, ultra-Orthodox parties that are propping up Netanyahu’s government had earlier threatened to back the motion.

The results of the vote Thursday morning, however, showed that most ultra-Orthodox lawmakers ultimately did not back the opposition bill, with just a small number voting in favor. The opposition will now have to wait six months before it can try again.

Netanyahu faces criticism at home over Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, conscription fears and the failure to return hostages taken into Gaza by Hamas after 21 months of war.