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 United States is the main international backer of Israel, Iran's biggest regional foe. It is also a close ally of Sunni Gulf monarchies which for years pursued their own rivalry with the Islamic Republic, seeing it as their main regional threat.

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.

The United States is advising its citizens in the Middle East and North Africa region to exercise increased caution due to heightened regional tensions, the US State Department said on Thursday. Sending out a security alert,

While Israel has publicly argued that Iran is on the verge of developing nuclear weapons — and that failure to act now would mean missing the last chance to stop it — this narrative largely serves as a pretext for military action. In fact, Israel has been warning for over two decades that Iran was close to crossing the nuclear threshold.

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

The Ukrainian president says he was informed the U.S. would divert key defensive weapons from Ukraine to the Middle East.