An American flag hangs at a US embassy. [AFP]
An American flag hangs at a US embassy. [AFP]

The State Department has asked US embassies across the Middle East to draw up plans for sustaining operations with minimal staff, sources said, as Washington braces for the possibility that the regional conflict could drag on indefinitely.

CNN reported Wednesday, citing multiple sources, that the State Department had directed its Middle East missions to develop such contingency plans.

The move signals that Washington does not expect to restore normal staffing levels at its regional embassies anytime soon, CNN said, pointing to signs that the Middle East war shows no sign of resolution.

According to the sources, diplomats temporarily evacuated from their posts have also been given expanded options to end their assignments early, before their originally scheduled tours of duty conclude.

However, the plans have not been finalized, and it remains unclear whether every US embassy in the Middle East that has operated with reduced staff since the war began would be covered, the sources added.

Before striking Iran on Feb. 28, the State Department had not reduced staffing at its Middle East missions beyond ordering or approving evacuations at its embassies in Lebanon and Israel.

After Iran retaliated against neighboring countries following those strikes, the State Department ordered evacuations from missions in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and Iraq. The US Embassy in Kuwait suspended all operations in March before resuming emergency consular services for American citizens only in late June.

CNN reported that the sudden drawdowns left diplomats with years remaining on their assignments — along with their families — scrambling to find temporary housing and schools for their children back in the United States. With no clear sense of how long they would need to stay, long-term planning proved impossible.

John Bass, a former diplomat who served as undersecretary of state, warned that the situation would erode Washington's ability to monitor developments on the ground. "The fewer diplomats you have in country, the fewer people you have who can track what's happening in that country and government and keep an eye on key issues of concern to the United States," he said, adding that reduced operations could persist "for months, potentially even years."

The State Department rebuffed those concerns in a statement to CNN. "The administration continues to engage with our Middle East partners and our relationships with allies in the region are only getting stronger," it said.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com