US Diplomats Returning to Middle East Embassies This Week

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The United States is preparing to return diplomats to embassies across the Middle East that were evacuated before and during the war with Iran, with foreign service officers set to begin heading back to their posts as early as this week, according to an internal State Department document obtained by the New York Times and confirmed by three US officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

The restaffing is set to proceed even as talks between the United States and Iran have stalled, leaving the Trump administration to threaten new economic sanctions rather than pursue a negotiated settlement. The decision to return diplomats is being read by current and former officials as a signal that Washington does not anticipate a return to all-out hostilities with Tehran.

"Returning personnel to missions that were partly evacuated suggests the administration believes the war is winding down," said Dan Shapiro, who served as the US ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration and as a Department of Defense official focused on the Middle East during the Biden administration, as the New York Times reported on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.

The internal State Department document identifies the embassies slated to restore higher levels of staffing as those in Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Iraq, and Kuwait. The first diplomats to return will be at the US Embassy in Lebanon, though that mission will not immediately reach full staffing. Ultimately, staff will completely return to three embassies, those in Israel, Jordan, and Oman, the document says.

Posts in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Lebanon will initially cap staffing at 85 percent of normal levels, while posts in Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain will be capped at 75 percent. In all six Gulf countries and Lebanon, the State Department will enforce restrictions on bringing family members, the document confirmed, a measure that former officials described as an indicator of the continued elevated threat environment.

"The limits on family members in the Gulf suggest that the government still believes there is an elevated risk," said John R. Bass, the under secretary of state for management during the Biden administration, as the New York Times reported. "They suggest that the threat environment is less than 30, 60, or 90 days ago, but more than before the start of the war."

The State Department confirmed the direction of the changes in a statement, saying it "continuously reviews the security posture at our diplomatic missions around the world. Based on our latest assessment, we are adjusting our staffing posture at certain posts in the Middle East to ensure we can continue advancing US foreign policy objectives while protecting the safety and security of our personnel."

The evacuations that the returning diplomats are now reversing began in the final days of February 2026. A day before the United States and Israel struck Iran on February 28, 2026, nonessential embassy workers in Jerusalem and their family members were given the option to leave Israel at government expense. Over the following weeks, the State Department issued orders to evacuate missions across the Middle East as Iran and its regional allies targeted US diplomatic outposts in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and elsewhere with explosive drones and rockets. Diplomats assigned to some of those countries worked from their homes rather than at embassies as a precaution throughout the conflict's most intense phase.

Former State Department officials cautioned that the return of diplomats does not guarantee a lasting peace or foreclose future American military action. "Bringing back embassy staff does not tie their hands for taking action against Iran in the future," said Robert Danin, a former deputy assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs. "They did it once. They can do it again."

Some diplomats who evacuated had pressed for clarity on where they would be stationed, particularly those with children who needed to make school placement decisions ahead of the academic year, two US officials told the New York Times. It is unclear how much that pressure influenced the timing of the decision.