By Feras Dalatey and Orhan Qereman

DAMASCUS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. forces began pulling out of their largest base in northeastern Syria on Monday, two Syrian military and security sources said, part of a wider departure as the U.S.-allied government in Damascus consolidates control.

Dozens of trucks, some carrying armoured vehicles, departed the base at Qasrak in Hasakah province on Monday morning, witnesses said. Reuters footage later showed the trucks moving along a highway on the outskirts of the city of Qamishli.

Iran vowed on Monday to retaliate "ferociously" against any attack by the United States and reiterated warnings of a regional conflagration in response to President Donald Trump's threat of limited strikes.

The bellicose rhetoric from Tehran and Washington came as both sides were set to hold indirect talks in Geneva on a potential deal regarding Iran's contentious nuclear programme, with a US official confirming discussions would resume on Thursday without offering further details.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Human rights are under assault worldwide, the United Nations chief warned on Monday, citing widespread abuses of international law and devastating civilian suffering in conflicts in Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine.

"The rule of law is being outmuscled by the rule of force," said U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, speaking at the opening of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Human rights are being pushed back deliberately, Guterres said, urging member states not to view international human rights as a menu to pick from.

President Donald Trump's threats to attack Iran provide little detail on what the long-term US goal would be in the event of a sustained or even brief conflict.

Trump sent warships and dozens of fighter planes to the Middle East and has several options to choose from that could destabilize the region.

Will Trump order surgical strikes targeting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the backbone of the clerical regime in power, try to take out its missile program -- as Israel wants him to do -- or even try to force regime change in Tehran?

CAIRO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Oman's foreign minister confirmed U.S.-Iran talks are set to take place in Geneva on Thursday.

Oman's foreign minister, whose country has mediated talks between the two sides, said the talks are set "with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal".

(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Ahmed Tolba)

DUBAI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Students held protests which led to clashes at several Iranian universities for a second day on Sunday, according to local news agencies and social media posts, with Iran facing a U.S. military buildup as it seeks to reach a nuclear deal with Washington.

The fresh unrest follows anti-government demonstrations last month in which thousands of people were killed in the worst domestic unrest since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Syrian authorities have closed Al-Hol camp, which long housed relatives of suspected Islamic State group fighters, after emptying the formerly Kurdish-controlled facility, a camp official told AFP on Sunday.

"All Syrian and non-Syrian families were relocated," Fadi al-Qassem, the official appointed by the government to manage Al-Hol's affairs told AFP.

Al-Hol, located in a desert region of Hasakeh province, had been Syria's largest camp housing relatives of suspected IS fighters.

Iranian officials held out hope for progress towards a deal to forestall fresh conflict when talks with US negotiators resume on Thursday, despite a huge build-up of American military might in the Middle East.

Speaking to CBS News on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said details of a possible deal were being drawn up ahead of the renewed talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, after Washington's envoy Steve Witkoff had publicly wondered why Tehran had not yet "capitulated".

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the Palestinian Islamist movement was in the final phase of selecting a new leader, with two prominent figures competing for the position.

Hamas recently completed the formation of a new Shura Council of more than 80 members, a consultative body largely composed of religious scholars, as well as a new 18-member political bureau, the official said.

Since the war in Gaza began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Israeli forces have killed several Hamas leaders, including two former chiefs.

Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is curious as to why Iran has not yet "capitulated" and agreed to curb its nuclear programme, as Washington builds up its military capability in the Middle East, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said.

"I don't want to use the word 'frustrated,' because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he's curious as to why they haven't... I don't want to use the word 'capitulated,' but why they haven't capitulated," Witkoff said in an interview on Fox News on Saturday.