US advises citizens to depart from multiple Middle Eastern nations immediately

US Department of State Issues Travel Advisories for Multiple Countries in Middle East

The US Department of State has issued a travel advisory urging Americans to depart from more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The advisory was updated on Monday following recent escalations between the US and Israel against Iran.

According to Mora Namdar, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs at the State Department, US citizens are advised to “DEPART NOW” from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen using available commercial transportation due to serious safety risks.

The advisory applies to multiple countries in the region, including several countries where US diplomatic personnel have already departed their posts. The State Department has announced that its personnel at the US Embassy in Amman, Jordan, have left the diplomatic site “due to a threat”.

A statement from the State Department was posted on X, citing serious safety risks as the reason for the advisory. However, some observers have questioned the unusual nature of this announcement, noting that it is not typical for the department to issue travel advisories through social media.

The US and Israel carried out strikes against Iran on Saturday, killing several top officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tehran has since retaliated with its own strikes across the region. The conflict’s duration is uncertain, with President Donald Trump stating that it could last four to five weeks or longer.

The travel advisory affects multiple countries in the Middle East and has raised concerns among Americans living in the region.

Source: Al Jazeera