The US, the UK and other powers put diplomats and citizens in the Middle East on alert on Friday, ordering some to leave their positions amid fears that a Trump administration attack on Iran could spiral into a regional conflict.
The US embassy in Jerusalem told non-emergency staff and family members that they could leave Israel on a day when oil prices rose as much as 3 per cent, spurred by worries about an imminent attack on Tehran.
“Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available,” the US embassy said.
Canada urged its citizens to leave Iran, warning that “hostilities in the region could resume with little or no warning”. China, India and Poland have issued similar directives. The UK on Friday withdrew its staff from its embassy in Tehran “due to the security situation”, with British officials saying US military action could be “imminent”.
The possibility of a US attack has raised questions about whether Britain would allow President Donald Trump to use UK bases, including the joint Indian Ocean facility at Diego Garcia.
A person familiar with the situation said Washington and London were discussing whether the UK would allow the US to use British bases in any such strike on Iran.
The discussions come as tensions rise across the Middle East, with Trump ordering the largest American military build-up in the region since the Iraq war in 2003 and threatening to launch strikes on Iran if it does not agree to a deal over its nuclear programme.
Speaking before a trip to Texas on Friday, Trump said: “We haven’t made a final decision [on potential action against Iran]. We’re not exactly happy with the way they’re negotiating. They cannot have nuclear weapons.”
“I’d love not to use [military force] but sometimes you have to,” he said, adding that talks were continuing on Friday.
Trump also acknowledged “there’s always a risk” of a drawn-out conflict in the region.
From Texas later on Friday, the president said he would not allow any uranium enrichment. “I say no enrichment, not 20 per cent, 30 per cent.”
Trump declined to say whether he was close to making a decision on a strike. The regime “should make a deal”, he said.
The US on Friday also designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, and called on Tehran to release Americans “unjustly” held by the regime.
The Gerald R Ford, the US’s largest and newest aircraft carrier, was approaching Israel’s Mediterranean coast on Friday. Its strike group includes three destroyers, thousands of troops and dozens of aircraft.
Tehran has threatened to retaliate against American bases across the region if it is attacked, sparking fears of a broader confrontation that could draw in Israel, which fought a 12-day war with Iran last year.
Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi, who has been mediating the US-Iran talks in Geneva, shared details of the negotiations with US vice-president JD Vance during a visit to Washington on Friday. “I look forward to further and decisive progress in the coming days. Peace is within our reach,” he said in a post on X.
Asked if progress was made during the meeting between Vance and Albusaidi, Trump replied: “I can’t tell you that.”
But while Trump has said his preference is for a diplomatic resolution, he has made clear that a military operation is also on the table.
Last 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.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio was due to visit Israel on Monday and Tuesday, Washington said on Friday, adding he would discuss “regional priorities” including Iran.
Trump has given various reasons for a possible intervention, ranging from curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme to ending its support for militant groups around the region. US officials have raised concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile programme.
US negotiators have not commented on the outcome of the Geneva talks, although Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi characterised them as “one of the best, most serious and longest rounds of negotiations” with the US.
“We made good progress on the nuclear case and the lifting of sanctions,” he said.
Tehran regards the lifting of US sanctions as essential for any sustainable and mutually acceptable deal.
In a sign of the heightened tensions on Friday, Brent crude, the international benchmark, touched a seven-month high above $73 a barrel before settling lower at $72.87.
Traders fear that, in the event of a strike on Iran, Tehran could retaliate by targeting the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which about a fifth of the global crude shipped by sea passes.
Container shipping group Maersk said its operations in the Red Sea were facing “constraints”, and it had decided to reroute some ships.
Trump threatened strikes to “help” anti-regime protesters in Iran during recent mass rallies and subsequently threatened action if Tehran executed any demonstrators. He later claimed to have prevented the executions of hundreds of people.
Amnesty International this week warned Iran’s judiciary had sentenced eight people to death and said 22 others, including two children, “are at risk of the death penalty”.
Iranian officials have not confirmed these figures, but the country’s judiciary has promised to prioritise cases related to last month’s protests and vowed to make no concessions.
Additional reporting by Verity Ratcliffe and Jamie John in London
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