All US personnel who do not have emergency responsibilities are allowed to return home with their families, according to a statement from the embassy. The Trump administration has threatened Iran with military strikes - and Iran has threatened to retaliate against US-linked targets in its vicinity. Israel is also believed to be involved in a possible escalation.
Those who want to leave Israel “should do so TODAY,” Ambassador Mike Huckabee wrote in an email to staff on Friday morning, according to The New York Times.
Huckabee wrote that there was no reason to panic. He said the top priority for those who want to leave is to find a plane ticket out of Israel to a place from which they can travel on to the United States.
Washington also announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel on Monday for talks on Iran.
Set a deadline
Britain says it is temporarily recalling staff from its embassy in Tehran as a "precautionary measure." It is also moving some embassy staff in Tel Aviv to "another location in Israel."
China is also issuing warnings due to the security situation. Chinese citizens in Iran should leave the country as soon as possible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. The Chinese embassy in Israel is urging increased vigilance and preparedness.
On February 19, President Donald Trump set a 15-day deadline in which he expected Iran to show compliance with his demands.
After the latest talks on Thursday, there were positive tones from both sides, but without any breakthroughs.
Negotiations have primarily focused on Iran's nuclear energy program, but the United States is also reportedly demanding that Iran dismantle its military missile program and stop supporting various militia groups in the region. In exchange, Iran's Islamist regime would be exempt from burdensome sanctions.
Military pressure
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran's nuclear program was completely destroyed in US bombings last summer. He most recently said so in his annual address to Congress earlier this week, but his envoy Steve Witkoff claims that Iran still has highly enriched uranium that could be turned into a nuclear weapon "in a week."
Iran wants to be able to have a limited program and then provide new guarantees that it will remain peaceful.
While the talks have been ongoing, the US military has carried out the largest mobilization in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq.
In March 2025, US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to open new negotiations. A month later, indirect talks began, but five meetings failed to produce results. Iran announced in June that a third facility would be commissioned.
On June 22, the United States entered the war between Israel and Iran and bombed the three nuclear power plants.
In September, previous UN sanctions against Iran were reimposed. The economy deteriorated and popular protests erupted across the country before the turn of the year. The US suspended contacts with Iran, and Trump said he was prepared to intervene on the side of the protesters when thousands were killed, but this did not happen.
At the end of January, US military forces began gathering in Iran's vicinity on an unusually large scale. New negotiations began on February 3.
