US military authorizes voluntary departure of troops’ dependents across Mideast, officials say

The American military on Wednesday authorized “the voluntary departure” of troops’ dependents from locations across the Middle East as tensions with Iran have risen, two U.S. officials has said.

One U.S. defense official said the order came from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

That official said the U.S. military was working with the State Department and its allies in the region “to maintain a constant state of readiness.”

The Baghdad embassy has already been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel.

The department, however, also is authorizing the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait. That gives them an option on whether to leave the country.

The Pentagon is standing by to support a potential evacuation of U.S. personnel from U.S. Embassy Baghdad, another U.S. official said.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Tensions in the region have been rising in recent days as talks between the U.S. and Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program appear to have hit an impasse.

Amid the reports of preparations for embassy departures, Iran’s mission to the U.N. posted on social media that “threats of overwhelming force won’t change the facts.”

“Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon, and U.S. militarism only fuels instability,” the Iranian mission wrote.

Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh separately told journalists Wednesday that he hoped talks with the U.S. would yield results, though Tehran stood ready to respond.

“If conflict is imposed on us, the opponent’s casualties will certainly be more than ours, and in that case, America must leave the region, because all its bases are within our reach,” he said. “We have access to them, and we will target all of them in the host countries without hesitation.”

Meanwhile, the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency was set to potentially vote on a measure to censure Iran. That could set in motion an effort to snap back United Nations sanctions on Iran via a measure in Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that’s still active until October.

With agency report