Foreign Office withdraws staff from Iran amid tensions

heraldscotland.com · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier was spotted in the sea waters as seen from Gibraltar, with Northern Africa in the background, February 20, 2026 in this picture obtained from social media. @dparody/Instagram/via REUTERS. The ship design matched (Image: @dparody/Instagram, @dparody/Instagram via REUTERS) This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald. The Foreign Office has withdrawn its staff from Iran amid growing signs an attack by the United States may be imminent. British staff have been removed from the country, with the department saying its ability to assist British nationals is now "extremely limited", with no in-person consular support even in emergencies. Earlier on Friday the U.S embassy in Israel told some non-emergency staff they could leave the country. Ambassador Mike Huckabee told staff in an email there was "no need to panic, but for those desiring to leave, it's important to make plans to depart sooner rather than later". Read More: Donald Trump says 'massive armada' moving quickly towards Iran This is not about rescuing Iran's downtrodden. This is a new Klondyke Tory MSP says Iran backing Scottish independence campaign President Donald Trump has previously threatened to take military action against Iran if it does not reach a deal on its nuclear programme, and the US has spent the last month amassing a fleet of aircraft and warships in the region. Iran has in turn threatened to attack Israel, raising the risk that military action could trigger another regional war. On Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK was focused on “supporting the political process” between Washington and Tehran. The largest U.S aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, was expected to arrive at the north coast of Israel on Friday morning, while USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers have been in the Arabian Sea since the end of January. The U.S has also moved a significant number of fighters jets and other military aircraft to bases in the Middle East. Twelve F-22s have been moved to a base in Israel, according to Military Times, with a total of over 100 fighters leaving the U.S and Europe and heading to the region along with more than 100 fuel tankers and 200 cargo planes.