Staffers have begun returning to US diplomatic facilities across the Middle East, according to Kyle Anzalone at Antiwar.com. Citing a New York Times report on an internal State Department memo, Antiwar.com says the department ordered some officers back to posts and rolled back certain emergency measures imposed during the war against Iran.
Who’s affected
Per the Antiwar.com account of the memo, some staff are set to return to embassies in Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Iraq, and Kuwait. Antiwar.com also reports that US embassies in Iraq and Saudi Arabia were hit by Iran during the war.
Why this is a reversal
Earlier this month, US diplomatic facilities across the region were preparing for extended reduced operations because of the ongoing war against Iran, Antiwar.com notes, citing CNN. CNN reported that the State Department was preparing to operate with minimal staff for the foreseeable future and had asked embassies to draft plans for continued minimal operations, offering curtailed assignments. According to CNN, those developments underscored that the department did not expect a return to normal staffing soon amid the “looming threat of a full-scale return to war.”
Policy shift reported
Antiwar.com also points to an Axios report quoting US officials who said Secretary of State Marco Rubio told allies the US was not planning new attacks on Iran. Axios reported that, instead, Washington would focus on enforcing sanctions and a blockade against Iran.
The bottom line
Based on the reporting cited by Antiwar.com, the State Department is moving some personnel back into key Middle East posts even as US planning for minimal operations continues and expectations for normal staffing remain low. Axios’s account of a tactical shift away from new strikes toward sanctions enforcement provides the context for the embassy moves, as reported.
