Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
16-11-2025
TEHRAN: The United States is withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
With Iran’s leadership trying to put down the worst domestic unrest the Islamic Republic has ever faced, Tehran is seeking to deter US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was withdrawing some personnel from key bases in the region as a precaution given heightened regional tensions.
Three diplomats said some personnel had already been advised to leave the main US air base in the region in Qatar, although there were no immediate signs of a large-scale evacuation of troops, as took place in the hours before an Iranian missile attack last year.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran, where thousands of people have been reported killed in a crackdown on the protests against clerical rule.
Iran and its Western foes have both described the unrest, which began two weeks ago as demonstrations against dire economic conditions and rapidly escalated in recent days, as the most violent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that installed Iran’s system of clerical rule.
An Iranian official has said more than 2,000 people have died. A rights group put the toll at more than 2,600.
Iran “had never faced this volume of destruction”, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Wednesday, blaming foreign enemies. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot described “the most violent repression in Iran’s contemporary history”.
According to an Israeli assessment, Trump has decided to intervene, although the scope and timing of this action remains unclear, an Israeli official said.
The three diplomats told media that some personnel had been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening.
One of the diplomats described the move as a “posture change” rather than an “ordered evacuation”. There was no sign of troops being moved off the base to a nearby soccer stadium and shopping mall, as took place last June in the hours before Iran targeted the base with missiles in retaliation for US airstrikes.
The US embassy in Doha had no immediate comment and Qatar’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iranian authorities have accused the United States and Israel of fomenting the unrest, carried out by people it calls terrorists.
Trump has openly threatened to intervene in Iran for days, without giving specifics.
In an interview on Tuesday, Trump vowed “very strong action” if Iran executes protesters. He also urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting and take over institutions, declaring “help is on the way”.
The senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tehran had asked US allies in the region to prevent Washington from attacking Iran.
“Tehran has told regional countries, from Saudi Arabia and UAE to Turkey, that US bases in those countries will be attacked” if the US targets Iran, the official said.
Direct contacts between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had been suspended, the official added.
The United States has forces across the region including the forward headquarters of its Central Command at Al Udeid in Qatar and the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
