Zürcher Nachrichten - US allows non-emergency staff to leave Israel as Trump threatens Iran strikes

The move came a day 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 Washington must drop "excessive demands" to reach a deal.

The talks follow repeated threats from President Donald Trump to strike Iran while the US military builds up its forces in the region.

As the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, was due to arrive off the coast of key US-ally Israel, the US embassy in the country 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".

"Focus on getting a seat to anyplace from which you can then continue travel to DC, but the first priority will be getting expeditiously out of country," he was quoted as writing.

Trump on February 19 gave Iran 15 days to reach a deal, and while Iran has insisted the discussions focus solely on its nuclear programme, the US wants Tehran's missile programme and its support for militant groups curtailed.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Trump's negotiating team would demand that Iran dismantle its three main nuclear sites and hand over all its remaining enriched uranium to the United States.

Without specifying what demands he was referring to, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that "success in this path requires seriousness and realism from the other side and avoidance of any miscalculation and excessive demands".

- 'Most intense' -

Following the talks in Geneva on Thursday, Araghchi told state TV that the negotiations "made very good progress and entered into the elements of an agreement very seriously, both in the nuclear field and in the sanctions field".

He said the next round would take place in "perhaps less than a week", with technical talks at the UN's nuclear agency to begin in Vienna on Monday

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi also announced technical discussions were to be held next week in Vienna.

"We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran," he said in a post on X.

Araghchi, in a post on X, called the latest round of talks "the most intense so far".

"It concluded with the mutual understanding that we will continue to engage in a more detailed manner on matters that are essential to any deal -- including sanctions termination and nuclear-related steps," he wrote.

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi joined the negotiations, a source close to the talks told AFP.

- 'Big lies' -

Trump said in his State of the Union address this week that Iran had "already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they're working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America".

He also accused Iran of "pursuing sinister nuclear ambitions", though Tehran has always insisted its programme is for civilian purposes.

The accusations were delivered in the same forum in which then-president George W. Bush laid out the case for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The Iranian foreign ministry called these claims "big lies".

Washington already has more than a dozen warships in the Middle East: one aircraft carrier -- the USS Abraham Lincoln -- nine destroyers and three other combat ships.

It is rare for there to be two US aircraft carriers in the region.

A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched strikes on Iran last June, beginning a 12-day war that the US briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.

Protests have since resumed around Iranian universities.

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T.Furrer--NZN