File: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make a quick trip to Israel early next week as tensions between the United States and Iran soar amid a massive buildup of U.S. forces in the Middle East, the State Department said Friday.
The department said in a statement that Rubio would visit Israel on Monday and Tuesday to “discuss a range of regional priorities including Iran, Lebanon, and ongoing efforts to implement President Trump’s 20-Point Peace Plan for Gaza.” It offered no other details.
Rubio to visit Israel next week as US-Iran tensions soar
The announcement comes just hours after the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem implemented “authorized departure” status for non-essential personnel and family members, which means that eligible staffers can leave the country voluntarily at government expense.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee told embassy employees in an email that discussions with officials in Washington had led to a decision authorizing departures for those who wished to leave.
The email was recounted to The Associated Press by someone involved with the U.S. mission who wasn’t authorized to share details. Sent before 10:30 a.m., it urged staff considering departure to do so quickly, advising them to to focus initially on getting any flight out of Israel and to then make their way to Washington.
“Those wishing to take AD should do so TODAY,” Huckabee wrote, using an acronym for “authorized departure.”
“While there may be outbound flights over the coming days, there may not be,” he added.
Huckabee said that there was no need for panic, but for those desiring to leave, it was important to make plans soon.
The email came a day after Iran and the United States walked away from nuclear negotiations without a deal, in their third round of nuclear talks in Geneva. Technical discussions are scheduled to take place in Vienna next week.
UN unable to verify Iran’s enrichment activity
A UN nuclear watchdog report says Iran blocks inspectors from checking nuclear sites hit in the June war, leaving big gaps in what the world can verify.
Iran has not allowed the United Nations nuclear agency access to its nuclear facilities bombed by Iran and the United States during a 12-day war in June, according to a confidential report by the watchdog circulated to member states and seen Friday by The Associated Press.
The report from the International Atomic Energy Agency stressed that it “cannot verify whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities,” or the “size of Iran’s uranium stockpile at the affected nuclear facilities.”
The IAEA report on Friday warned that due to the continued lack of access to any of Iran’s four declared enrichment facilities, the agency “cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran.”The agency also said that Iran has not provided access to IAEA inspectors to the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant since Iran first made available information about the new facility over eight months ago. The confidential report warned that therefore the agency does not know whether this facility “contains nuclear material or is operational.
THE HILL
