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Washington ordered the departure of non-essential diplomats and their family members from Lebanon on Monday as concerns mount of a potential US military conflict with Iran.
A senior state department official said an assessment of the regional security environment determined it was now “prudent” to reduce the embassy’s footprint in the country.
The move was only a “temporary measure’’ intended to ensure the safety of personnel, the official said. They added the embassy would continue to operate with core staff.
Dozens of staff were reportedly evacuated via Beirut airport on Monday, according to local media.
The evacuations come amid heightened tensions in the region. Washington has built up one of its largest military forces in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq war, raising the prospect of a weeks-long military campaign against Iran.
President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Iran unless the regime swiftly meets his demands for a deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme.
On Thursday, he said the Islamic republic had a “maximum” of 15 days to reach a deal or “bad things will happen”. He also said he was considering limited strikes designed to press Tehran into making a deal.
The US build-up has continued as Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS on Sunday that Tehran was still working on a proposal for Washington to consider. Araghchi said Iran would “probably” submit the proposal during potential talks with special envoy Steve Witkoff in Switzerland this week.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to travel to Israel later this week. A state department official said the plans were still in place “but remain subject to change”.
Lebanon is home to the Shia militant group Hizbollah, long one of Iran’s most potent forces in its regional network of allied proxies.
In the 1980s, US assets in Lebanon were repeatedly targeted during the country’s brutal civil war.
The US marine headquarters and the embassy in Beirut were both bombed in 1983 in attacks that killed 241 servicemen and 49 embassy staff — casting a long shadow over US diplomacy in the region.
Hizbollah has been subject to near-daily air strikes by Israel, despite a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024 intended to end more than a year of cross-border fire that culminated in a full-blown war at the end of that year.
The war severely weakened the group, but Israel continues to accuse Hizbollah of trying to rebuild its capabilities and says efforts by Lebanon’s government to disarm Hizbollah have been inadequate.
Israel has intensified its aerial campaign in recent weeks, an indication of its increasing concerns that the militant group could join Tehran in a new conflict against Israel should a US attack on Iran spiral into a regional conflagration which could draw in the proxy forces. Hizbollah did not participate in the 12-day war between Israel and Iran last June.
On Sunday, Israel said it hit Hizbollah “command centres” in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley linked to the group’s missile force, which it said had been working recently to improve its ability to launch rockets at Israel.
The strikes killed 10 people and wounded dozens more, according to Lebanese authorities who did not distinguish between militants and civilians. Hizbollah confirmed that at least eight of its members had been killed, including a senior field commander.
Additional reporting by Abigail Hauslohner in Washington
