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US President Donald Trump said on Friday he’s “not happy” with the way Iran talks are going but that he’ll “see what happens” after additional talks that the US plans to hold with the Middle Eastern country over its nuclear program.
“I’m not happy with the fact that they’re not willing to give us what we have to have. I’m not thrilled with that. We’ll see what happens. We’re talking later,” Trump said to reporters as he left the White House.
The President’s comments came amid ongoing speculation that a US military strike on Iran is imminent.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold talks in Israel on Iran next week, the State Department announced on Friday, as the US told its non-emergency embassy staff to leave Israel.
Rubio will on Monday “discuss a range of regional priorities including Iran, Lebanon and ongoing efforts to implement President Trump’s 20-Point Peace Plan for Gaza,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
Rubio does not plan to bring reporters on his plane, in a rare break with decades of precedent for US secretaries of state.
The trip comes after a round of Oman-mediated talks between Iran and the US seen as a last-ditch bid to avert war, though initial optimism was tempered by Tehran warning that Washington must drop “excessive demands” to reach a deal.
Mediator Oman reported progress but the United States has said little about the talks.
Read moreIs a diplomatic solution with Iran achievable? ‘I doubt it,’ says Israel’s ambassador to France
‘Safety risks’
The United States authorised the departure of non-emergency embassy staff from Israel on Friday, as the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, was due to arrive off the Israeli coast.
The US embassy in Jerusalem announced it was allowing non-emergency government personnel and family members to leave “due to safety risks”.
“Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available,” the embassy said on its website.
The New York Times reported that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sent an email to embassy staff on Friday morning saying that those wishing to leave “should do so TODAY”.
The French foreign ministry on Friday reiterated its advice to nationals not to travel to Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank even for tourism or family visits as a result of the security situation in Iran.
On its website, the ministry also recommended French citizens already there stay away from demonstrations and rallies and identify bomb shelters.
Germany on Friday also advised it’s citizens against travel to Israel and the UK temporarily relocated some diplomatic staff and their dependents from Tel Aviv to another location within Israel as a precaution, the Foreign Office said.
Meanwhile, flights from Istanbul airport to Tehran were cancelled on Friday night. Four flights to Tehran scheduled for Saturday were also cancelled, though six others remained on the schedule. A Turkish Airlines flight to the northern Iranian city of Tabriz, due to leave early Saturday, was called off.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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