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Some of the U.S. diplomats who were evacuated earlier this year from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and a half dozen other countries in the Middle East may soon start returning back to their posts. But the State Department is still limiting the number of staff in the region as the war with Iran drags on. As NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, this could affect American travelers and businesses in the region.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Former Ambassador to Tunisia Joey Hood spent much of his foreign service career in Middle East hotspots. He still travels around Gulf countries and says he's been hearing a lot of concerns about the skeletal embassy staffing in the region.
JOEY HOOD: I get calls and emails and WhatsApps from people all the time wondering, OK. Well, the embassy's not accepting visa applications. How can this business person travel to the United States? Or, I am an American businessperson. I'm trying to export something new. I don't have anybody to talk to.
KELEMEN: The State Department says while routine visa services may not be available at these embassies, they do prioritize emergency services for Americans. Here's State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
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TOMMY PIGOTT: The safety and security of Americans, including our personnel and their families, is, was and remains the department's top priority as we continue to assess conditions across the region.
KELEMEN: Soon after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran, and Iran responded by attacking U.S. interests in the region, the State Department evacuated hundreds of U.S. diplomats from embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and others. It also authorized personnel to leave Israel and Oman. Under ordered and authorized departures, the State Department provides housing allowances for 180 days. But that runs out this month, so the department is expected to put Gulf embassies under a new category - restricted operations.
JOHN BASS: That allows for embassies to operate at a greatly reduced staff during an extended period of uncertainty.
KELEMEN: That's John Bass, another retired career diplomat who once served as undersecretary of state for management. He says he's hearing a lot of frustration from former colleagues, especially those with school-aged children, who won't be able to return to posts.
BASS: Many of these families left with a few suitcases. And most of their life is still, you know, sort of behind a locked door in one of these Gulf capitals.
KELEMEN: Hundreds of diplomats have been working remotely in the meantime. Bass says the department learned during COVID that some things can be done from afar. But he says there are limits, especially if you're a diplomat trying to persuade a foreign official to do something in the U.S. interests.
BASS: It is very different to try to do that over the phone or over a video conference than it is to sit down face-to-face with them.
KELEMEN: President Trump, though, rarely relies on professional diplomats. His son-in-law Jared Kushner and his friend real estate developer Steve Witkoff handle everything from Iran to Russia and Gaza. Trump has named very few ambassadors in the region. And that concerns Joey Hood, who says he had a much different experience working in the first Trump administration.
HOOD: Where are the ambassadors? Where are the people pushing back on Iranian propaganda on a daily basis throughout the media atmosphere? Where are the people having 10 or 12 meetings a day, pushing the president's agenda the way that we did in the first administration? They're just not here.
KELEMEN: And he says this could have real implications for Americans, especially those traveling in the region or those who want to do business in Gulf countries.
HOOD: And it means a Washington that is increasingly blind to all of the dynamics in the region, and I think that's become extremely evident by what we've seen over the past few months.
KELEMEN: As the U.S. struggles to negotiate an exit to the war in Iran.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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