{"id":131602,"date":"2026-02-23T21:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/02\/23\/us-pulls-nonessential-staff-from-beirut-embassy-as-tensions-with-iran-ratchet-up\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:37:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:37:34","slug":"us-pulls-nonessential-staff-from-beirut-embassy-as-tensions-with-iran-ratchet-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/02\/23\/us-pulls-nonessential-staff-from-beirut-embassy-as-tensions-with-iran-ratchet-up\/","title":{"rendered":"US pulls nonessential staff from Beirut embassy as tensions with Iran ratchet up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The United States has ordered nonessential personnel and their family members to leave its embassy in Beirut, a senior State Department official told Military Times on Monday, as Washington continues a massive military buildup in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said the drawdown is a \u201cprudent\u201d step to reduce the American footprint in the region while President Donald Trump mulls a strike on Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Embassy remains operational with core staff in place. This is a temporary measure intended to ensure the safety of our personnel while maintaining our ability to operate and assist U.S. citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Embassies are often thinned when security threats in the region rise. Prior to Operation Midnight Hammer \u2014 the multipronged U.S. attack on three Iranian nuclear sites last June \u2014 the State Department withdrew nonessential personnel from posts in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Lebanon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beirut was the site of deep trauma for the U.S. a generation ago. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marines.mil\/News\/Marines-TV\/videoid\/634642\/dvpTag\/Beirut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.marines.mil\/News\/Marines-TV\/videoid\/634642\/dvpTag\/Beirut\/\">In 1983,<\/a> Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed proxy group, killed 220 Marines, 18 Navy sailors and three Army soldiers in a suicide bombing of the Marine barracks in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, Lebanon remains the primary base of Hezbollah. The latest U.S. evacuation of embassy staff and their families from Beirut comes amid broader fears of expected retaliation against American targets by groups allied with Tehran, should Washington opt for military action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The diplomatic winnowing coincides with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/02\/19\/us-military-assets-flock-to-middle-east-amid-iran-standoff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/02\/19\/us-military-assets-flock-to-middle-east-amid-iran-standoff\/\">rapid expansion<\/a> of American war-fighting assets in the region. Dozens of aircraft \u2014 including F-16 and F-35 jets \u2014 are now deployed, alongside two carrier strike groups \u2014 the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ford, the Navy\u2019s largest aircraft carrier, arrived Monday at a key NATO base on the Greek island of Crete after redeploying from the Caribbean, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersconnect.com\/item\/uss-gerald-r-ford-aircraft-carrier-arrives-at-souda-bay-on-the-island-of-crete\/dGFnOnJldXRlcnMuY29tLDIwMjY6bmV3c21sX1JDMlBSSkEyWEtUTA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.reutersconnect.com\/item\/uss-gerald-r-ford-aircraft-carrier-arrives-at-souda-bay-on-the-island-of-crete\/dGFnOnJldXRlcnMuY29tLDIwMjY6bmV3c21sX1JDMlBSSkEyWEtUTA\">according to video footage<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mobilization represents the largest concentration of American firepower in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump\u2019s lead negotiator with Iran, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6389705492112\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6389705492112\">told Fox News on Saturday<\/a> that the president cannot understand why the Islamic Republic has not \u201ccapitulated\u201d to America\u2019s demands over its nuclear program in light of the massing of U.S. military might.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t want to use the word \u2018frustrated\u2019 &#8230; because [Trump] understands he\u2019s got plenty of alternatives,\u201d Witkoff said. \u201cBut he\u2019s curious as to why they haven\u2019t \u2014 I don\u2019t want to use the word \u2018capitulated,\u2019 but why they haven\u2019t capitulated? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhy, under this sort of pressure, with the amount of sea power and naval power that we have over there, why they haven\u2019t come to us and said, \u2018We profess that we don\u2019t want a weapon, so here\u2019s what we\u2019re prepared to do?\u201d&#8217; he questioned. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to sort of get them to that place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">American and Iranian officials are set to meet for a third round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Thursday \u2014 a session widely viewed as a final attempt to reach a compromise before Trump moves closer to military action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oman, which has served as an intermediary between the two sides, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/badralbusaidi\/status\/2025627591382606061?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/badralbusaidi\/status\/2025627591382606061?s=20\">described the upcoming negotiations<\/a> as \u201ca positive push to go the extra mile towards finalizing the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The drawdown is a \u201cprudent\u201d step to reduce the U.S. footprint in the region while Trump mulls a strike on Iran, a State Department official said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":86,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[15,86],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3480],"class_list":["post-131602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7ZBSUFJPSNCMVE3XWOKMLNT6ZY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/02\/23\/us-pulls-nonessential-staff-from-beirut-embassy-as-tensions-with-iran-ratchet-up\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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