The U.S. State Department made an emergency statement urging American citizens to leave 16 countries in the Middle East. The agency noted that this should be done as soon as possible due to high security risks.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with the State Department, strongly recommends that all U.S. citizens immediately leave the specified countries using any available commercial transportation, considering the serious threats,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar in her post on social media platform X.
The listed countries include Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
On February 28, the U.S. and Israel began joint military operations against Iran. In response, Iran started striking Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East. On the night of March 3, the authorities of Israel, the UAE, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia reported repelling missile attacks.
