The United States is drawing down the presence of staffers who are not deemed essential to operations in the Middle East and their loved ones due to the potential for regional unrest.

President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that U.S. personnel are being "moved out" of parts of the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Israel and Iran.

The State Department told regional allies about Israel's plan to strike Iran, and indicated it wasn't a U.S. operation, four sources told CBS News.

Rising tensions with Iran and fears of an Israeli strike prompted the U.S. to move some of its nonmilitary personnel out of the region.

As of mid-2025, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 US troops in the Middle East, comprising personnel stationed in both large, permanent bases and smaller forward sites across the region.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded the Federal Reserve slash interest rates. But Fed officials have stood pat, waiting to see how his administration’s sweeping policy changes affect the economy first.

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated as Israel employs unprecedented warfare tactics against Iran, according to Louis Libin, a combat technology expert.

Shapiro served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East until January—charged with, among other things, considering scenarios in which tensions between Israel and Iran escalated into all-out war and preparing U.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz claims China could hold the 'moral authority' to negotiate Middle East peace after Israel's strikes on Iran.

The United States has pulled some diplomatic staff and military families out of the Middle East, citing unspecified regional security risks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported that the United States has redirected 20,000 missiles, originally intended for Ukraine to combat Russian Shahed drones, to the Middle East. Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with ABC News;