Norway moves some of its 60 soldiers in Middle East due to security situation


An Iranian newspaper with a cover photo of U.S. President Donald Trump, in Tehran, Iran, February 19, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

COPENHAGEN, Feb 20 (Reuters) - ⁠Norway is relocating some of the around ⁠60 soldiers it has in the ‌Middle East to Norway as well as to other countries in the region on security grounds, a spokesperson for ​the Norwegian armed forces said ⁠on Friday.

U.S. President Donald ⁠Trump warned Iran on Thursday it must make ⁠a ‌deal over its nuclear program or "really bad things" will happen, setting a ⁠deadline of 10 to 15 days, drawing ​a threat ‌from Tehran to retaliate against U.S. bases ⁠in the ​region if attacked.

Norway declined to say how many soldiers it was relocating and which locations were ⁠affected.

"These are soldiers who have ​jobs like training local forces and other missions," Lieutenant Colonel Vegard Finberg from the Norwegian Joint ⁠Headquarters told Reuters.

"The way the situation is now, it's not possible for them to do their primary tasks, and that's why we are ​relocating them," he said, adding ⁠other nations had made similar moves in ​recent days.

Norway has forces stationed ‌in several sites in Iraq ​and other nearby countries.

(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik, Alexandra Hudson)

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