The State Department is preparing U.S. diplomatic posts across the Middle East for the possibility of operating with significantly reduced staffing for an extended period, as the war with Iran approaches the six-month mark with no clear resolution in sight, CNN reports.
U.S. embassies have been instructed to develop plans for continuing operations with only a small number of personnel on the ground. At the same time, employees displaced from their posts are increasingly being given the option to curtail their assignments rather than remain in limbo while waiting to return.
The situation stems from the evacuation of nonemergency personnel and family members from diplomatic posts across the region after the war began in late February. Within weeks, U.S. facilities across the Middle East came under attack by Iran and its proxies, prompting additional departures from Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait suspended applications for resuming emergency operations for Americans in late June and remains under ordered departure, while the embassy in Oman remains under authorized departure.
State Department rules generally prevent an “ordered departure” designation from continuing beyond 180 days. Posts unable to return to normal operations after that point move to “restricted operations,” which imposes limits on in-country staffing. Sources told CNN that for Middle East posts, this will likely mean children and most spouses will not be permitted to return.
The prolonged drawdown has left diplomats and their families facing uncertainty over housing, schools and future assignments. It could also leave fewer U.S. diplomats available to provide consular assistance to Americans abroad and carry out the administration’s diplomatic priorities. Former Under Secretary of State John Bass told CNN that restricted operations could potentially continue “for months, if not years.”
The State Department said it continually reviews staffing and security conditions at diplomatic missions and that decisions are based on security and operational considerations in coordination with Washington. It also disputed suggestions that reduced staffing has limited U.S. diplomatic efforts, saying the Trump administration has maintained high-level engagement with partners across the Middle East.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
