'New York Times': Washington Prepares to Reassign Diplomats to Embassies in the Middle East

- Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel are included.

The US newspaper The New York Times, citing an internal document it reviewed, reported that the US State Department is preparing to return American diplomats to US embassies in the Middle East that had been evacuated before and during the war with Iran.

The newspaper clarified that the return of diplomatic staff and the reduction of emergency measures taken at US missions in the Middle East could begin this week.

According to the document, the embassies scheduled to raise their staffing levels include those in Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, the Sultanate of Oman, Iraq, and Kuwait.

It noted that the first batch of returning diplomats would be deployed to the US Embassy in Lebanon, with the staffing there not reaching its full planned complement. Meanwhile, staff would eventually return in full to three embassies: those in Israel, Jordan, and the Sultanate of Oman.

The newspaper added that the US State Department would impose restrictions on employees bringing their family members to the six Gulf states and Lebanon.

The New York Times quoted US State Department officials as saying that the redeployment of staff to embassies indicates a decrease in tensions, despite stalled talks between the United States and Iran regarding the extension of a ceasefire.