War Over? U.S. Prepares to Return Staff to Middle East Embassies

U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform Tuesday afternoon: "The Islamic Republic of Iran, which is in the process of collapsing, is not paying large portions of its military personnel, while at the same time killing protesters, even when they are not protesting, on a scale never seen before. This is a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions, and it must be stopped, now." Trump did not specify what he intends to do.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that the U.S. administration is preparing to return diplomats to embassies in the Middle East. Staff were evacuated from them during the war with Iran. According to the report, the return of Foreign Service personnel and the scaling back of emergency measures at embassies in the region could begin as early as this week.

The embassies expected to return to higher levels of activity include those in Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Iraq, and Kuwait. The U.S. State Department said: "We continuously review the security situation at our diplomatic missions around the world. Based on the latest assessments, staffing levels are being adjusted at some missions in the Middle East to allow for continued diplomatic operations while safeguarding the security of personnel."