2026-08-12T09:00:29.052Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/12/politics/us-diplomats-middle-east-iran-war
多名消息人士告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN），由于与伊朗的战争暂无任何缓和迹象，美国国务院正要求驻中东的美国使馆制定计划，以少量地面人员维持使馆运转。
消息人士还称，那些已从中东岗位撤离的人员，越来越多地被允许缩短外派任务期限。
消息人士表示，相关计划尚未最终敲定，目前尚不清楚是否会在所有当前已缩减人员编制的使馆落地。不过，这些动态凸显出，在全面战争再次爆发的迫近威胁下，国务院预计近期内无法让该地区的使馆恢复正常人员编制。
美国国务院发言人向CNN表示，他们“不会讨论内部磋商或针对具体使馆的应急规划”，但同时指出，国务院“会根据实地情况持续评估每个外交使团的安全与人员配置状况，并酌情调整人员规模”。
“在我们持续评估整个地区局势的过程中，保障我们的人员及其家属的安全始终是国务院的首要任务，”该发言人说道。“有关任何使馆现状的决定，都会基于一系列安全与运营因素，并由各驻外使馆与华盛顿密切协调后作出。”
“人员相关事宜，包括个人缩短外派任务的申请，都会按具体情况逐一处理，”他们补充道。
今年2月底战争爆发后不久，美国国务院就下令该地区几乎所有外交使团的非紧急岗位人员及家属撤离。这导致近六个月来，人们始终不确定这些使馆能否恢复正常运转，也不确定所有外交官能否重返岗位。一旦“缩减运营”计划最终敲定，将为已撤离的美国外交官及其家属带来一定程度的明确预期。
与此同时，结束战争的相关努力陷入停滞。双方此前达成的谅解备忘录已失效。7月底双方还进行了超过一周的互击行动。为全面重新开放霍尔木兹海峡而发起的新一轮协议谈判仍未取得成功。
在美国与以色列启动军事行动之前，国务院并未对该地区多数使馆的人员编制进行缩减。战争爆发前，只有黎巴嫩和以色列分别处于“强制撤离”和“获准撤离”状态。“获准撤离”意味着非紧急岗位人员及家属可以选择撤离，但并非强制要求。
几周后，由于美国在中东的外交设施遭到伊朗及其代理人的袭击，国务院下令巴林、伊拉克、约旦、卡塔尔、沙特阿拉伯和阿联酋的非紧急岗位人员及家属撤离。美国驻科威特使馆于3月全面暂停运营，直到6月底才恢复针对美国公民的紧急领事服务，目前仍处于强制撤离状态。美国驻阿曼使馆处于获准撤离状态。
人员的突然缩减导致外交官及其家属——其中许多人还有数年任期才结束——匆忙在美国寻找住房并为子女办理入学手续。然而，由于不清楚使馆将以缩减后的人员编制运行多久，这些家属无法做出长期承诺。如果使馆恢复正常运营，他们需要迅速返回中东。
一名外交官配偶表示，他们一家“这段时间一直在辗转更换住宿”，因为他们不敢签订长期租约后又提前解约，承担潜在的经济损失。
“我们在世界多地都经历过撤离，但这次不一样，有这么多人从同一个地区撤离，又有这么多人回到同一个地方，”他们补充道。
那些被迫离开该地区的人员几乎丢下了所有个人物品，以及驻外岗位上至关重要的社交支持网络。
这位外交官配偶告诉CNN，他们为“我们在该地区关心的人和我们参与的工作”感到“无比悲痛”。
“3月我们走出家门时完全没想到，不仅六个月内回不去，现在的实际情况是，我们可能再也回不去了，”他们因担心遭到报复而要求匿名。
根据国务院的规定，外交使馆的“强制撤离”状态不得延长超过180天。一旦达到这一期限且无法恢复正常状态，使馆将转为“限制运营”状态，包括对境内人员编制设置上限。美国国务院外交事务手册指出，限制运营状态“旨在作为应对安全威胁的临时措施”，但“只要确保有足够的安全保障措施，就可以根据需要持续实施”。
消息人士称，对于中东地区的使馆而言，限制运营状态可能意味着不允许儿童及多数配偶返回。
国务院发言人表示，国务院仍将“致力于在整个过程中支持我们的工作人员及其家属，并将在作出决定后通过适当渠道发布最新消息”。
限制运营还将意味着美国驻当地外交官持续短缺。对于那些仍无法重返岗位的人员，他们可能会尝试缩短外派任务，但目前尚不清楚是否有足够的替代岗位可供选择。
前外交官表示，驻场外交官人数减少可能会影响国务院为海外美国公民提供快速领事援助的能力，以及推进本届政府优先事务的进程。
“人手越少，能做的事就越少，有大量工作无法远程完成，”曾担任国务院管理事务副国务卿的职业外交官约翰·巴斯说道。
“驻场外交官越少，关注该国情况、该国政府动态，为美国紧盯关键议题的人员就越少，”他解释道。“能在当地宣传美国政府对当前事件的看法、阐明事件符合我们及该国利益、携手合作解决共同问题的人员也就越少。”
他指出，各国领导人可能会就某一事项达成广泛共识，但最终仍需依靠驻场的资深外交官“与东道国政府深入探讨具体细节，明确推进方式”。
曾担任土耳其、格鲁吉亚和阿富汗大使的巴斯告诉CNN，限制运营状态可能会“持续数月，甚至数年”。
国务院发言人驳斥了美国外交努力因驻场人员减少而“受限”的说法。
“我们看到特朗普政府最高层持续与中东伙伴接触，我们与该地区盟友的关系也在不断加强，”他们说道。
US embassies in the Middle East prepare for extended period with reduced staff amid Iran war
2026-08-12T09:00:29.052Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/12/politics/us-diplomats-middle-east-iran-war
The State Department is asking US embassies in the Middle East to create plans to continue operating with a small number of staff on the ground, sources told CNN, as the war with Iran shows no signs of resolution.
Additionally, personnel who have been displaced from their posts in the Middle East are increasingly being given the option to curtail their assignments, the sources said.
The plans have not been finalized, the sources said, and it is unclear if they will be implemented at all of the embassies that are currently on reduced staffing. Still, the developments underscore that the State Department does not expect to return to normal staffing in the region soon amid the looming threat of a full-scale return to war.
A State Department spokesperson told CNN that they “do not discuss internal deliberations or post-specific contingency planning,” but noted that the department “continually reviews the security and staffing posture at every diplomatic mission based on conditions on the ground and adjusts personnel levels as appropriate.”
“The safety and security of our personnel and their families remains the Department’s top priority as we continue to assess conditions across the region,” the spokesperson said. “Decisions regarding the status of any post are made based on a range of security and operational factors, in close coordination between posts and Washington.”
“Personnel matters, including individual curtailment requests, are handled on a case-by-case basis,” they added.
The State Department ordered nonemergency personnel and family members to leave almost every diplomatic post in the region shortly after the war began in late February. That has led to nearly six months of uncertainty about whether the posts would be able to return to normal and all diplomats could return. The plans for “reduced operations,” once finalized, could provide some clarity to US diplomats and their families who have been displaced.
Meanwhile, efforts to bring the war to an end have faltered. The memorandum of understanding between the two sides has collapsed. There was more than a week of back-and-forth strikes at the end of July. A renewed push for an agreement to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz has yet to succeed.
The State Department did not reduce staffing at most of its embassies in the region before the US and Israel began their military campaign. Ahead of the war, only Lebanon and Israel were in ordered and authorized departure status, respectively. Authorized departure means nonemergency personnel and family members could choose to leave but were not required to.
Within weeks, as US diplomatic facilities across the region came under attack by Iran and its proxies, the department ordered nonemergency personnel and families to leave Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The US Embassy in Kuwait suspended operations entirely in March and only resumed emergency operations for Americans in late June. It remains under ordered departure. The US Embassy in Oman is under authorized departure.
The sudden drawdown in staffing left diplomats and family members, many of whom had years left on their assignments, scrambling to find housing and to enroll their children in school back in the US. However, because it was unclear how long embassies would operate with reduced staffing, families couldn’t make longer-term commitments when they returned home. If normal operations resumed, they would be expected to quickly return to the Middle East.
One diplomatic spouse said their family has been “hopping around to different housing situations this whole time,” because they couldn’t risk the potential financial repercussions of signing a long-term lease and breaking it.
“We’ve had evacuations in various parts of the world, but this is different in that there’s such a large portion of people from one part of the world with so many people coming back to one spot,” they added.
Those who were forced to leave the region left behind almost all of their belongings, as well as support networks of friends who can be critical to an overseas posting.
The diplomatic spouse told CNN they feel “a tremendous sadness” for “the people we care about and the work that we’re part of” in the region.
“We had no idea when we walked out of our house in March that we not only wouldn’t be returning in six months, but now the reality is, we won’t be returning at all,” they said, requesting anonymity due to concerns of retaliation.
Under State Department rules, diplomatic posts cannot have their “ordered departure” status extended for more than 180 days. Once that limit is reached, if they are unable to return to normal status, they switch to “restricted operations,” which includes caps on in-country staffing. The State Department’s foreign affairs manual notes that restricted status “is intended as a temporary measure to address safety and security,” but “it may continue as long as necessary to ensure that adequate safety and security measures are in place.”
For the posts in the Middle East, restricted operations status will likely mean no children and few spouses will be allowed to return, sources said.
The State Department spokesperson said the department remains “committed to supporting our workforce and their families throughout this process and will provide updates through appropriate channels as decisions are made.”
It will also mean a continued shortage of US diplomats on the ground. For those who are still not able to return to their posts, they may try to curtail, but it is not clear whether there are enough alternate jobs for them.
And fewer diplomats on the ground could impact the State Department’s ability to provide quick consular assistance to Americans abroad and to advance the administration’s priorities, former diplomats said.
“When you have fewer people, there’s less you can do, and there’s a lot that you cannot do remotely,” said John Bass, a former career diplomat who served as an under secretary of state for management.
“The fewer diplomats you have in country, the fewer people you have who are focused on what is happening in that country, in that government, keeping tabs on key issues for the United States,” he explained. “You’ve got fewer people there to be promoting the US government’s views on what is happening and why, and what is in our interests and the interests of that country, working together, to try to solve a common problem.”
He noted that leaders might discuss a broad agreement on a matter, but it comes down to the experienced diplomats on the ground “to be able to really get into the details with that host government about how to move forward.”
Bass, who was an ambassador to Turkey, Georgia and Afghanistan, told CNN that the restricted operations status could potentially last “for months, if not years.”
The State Department spokesperson disputed the idea that diplomatic efforts by the US have been “limited” by having fewer people on the ground.
“We have seen sustained engagement from the highest levels of the Trump Administration with our partners in the Middle East, and our relationship with our allies in the region continues to get stronger,” they said.