The U.S. State Department is urging Americans to leave 14 countries across the Middle East as the Iran war widened Tuesday with Iranian proxies being drawn in and Iran continuing its retaliatory fire.
Americans were urged late Monday to “depart now” from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. They were urged to leave “using available commercial transportation, due to serious safety risks.”
More than a million Americans are believed to be in the region, a source said.
The State Department also told all non-emergency U.S. government personnel and the families of government personnel to leave Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
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Some U.S. embassies in the region are closed.
The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia was attacked by two drones, causing a small fire and limited damage, the Saudi Ministry of Defense said Monday on X. The embassy urged U.S. citizens in Riyadh and the key commercial cities of Dhahran and Jeddah to shelter in place. It said it would be closed Tuesday.
The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also said Tuesday it was closed until further notice “due to ongoing regional tensions” and that consular appointments were canceled. It was closed a day after smoke was seen rising from the mission following Iranian attacks on the country.
AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. and Israel began attacking Iran on Saturday in what President Trump described on Monday as the “last best chance” to address the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missiles and nuclear program. He articulated the reasons he said he decided to order strikes, bombing over 1,000 targets in the opening days of what he said could be a weeks-long conflict. They include destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, annihilating Iran’s navy and preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Six U.S. troops have been killed during the war, while 18 others have been seriously wounded. The Iranian Red Crescent said at least 787 people have been killed in Iran.
Now, Americans — and travelers who found themselves stranded amid regional airport and airspace closures — are trying to figure out how to leave the region.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said overnight, “We are getting a lot of requests regarding evacuating from Israel from American citizens who are currently in Israel or who have family here.”
In a lengthy post on social media, Huckabee outlined how people can depart Israel, noting “there are VERY LIMITED options.” He said the U.S. Embassy was not in a position to evacuate or directly help Americans leave the country.
The State Department said Americans who need the government’s help arranging travel could call +1-202-501-4444 from abroad or +1-888-407-4747 from the U.S. and Canada.
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