US urges Americans to immediately leave Middle East countries over security concerns
US Department of State has urged all American citizens to immediately leave more than 12 countries in the Middle East, amid escalating US-Israeli strikes on Iran
The US Department of State has urged all American citizens to immediately leave more than 12 countries in the Middle East, amid escalating US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
In a statement on Monday March 2, 2026, the State Department updated its travel advisories for several regional countries.
The latest advisory applies to 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.
Mora Namdar, the State Department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs, said US citizens should leave immediately from the countries listed using available commercial transportation due to serious safety risks.
The US Embassy in Amman, Jordan, announced earlier on Monday that its personnel had departed the diplomatic site.
Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane noted the unusual nature of the announcement on social media by the US State Department official.
“The fact that the State Department is referring us to a tweet from an assistant secretary of state, and this isn’t necessarily official policy – but perhaps they are saying it is official policy – this is not at all how it is usually done,” Culhane said.
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“This is not how this is done. The State Department has very complex processes to notify Americans in these places that they need to leave. That hasn’t happened. It’s not official government policy, at least it doesn’t appear to be yet, because this isn’t how they announce official government policy,” Culhane added.
It’s not clear on how Americans could leave the entire Middle East since commercial flights have been interrupted so much because of all the missiles.
On Saturday, the US and Israel carried out a barrage of strikes on Iran, killing many top officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Meanwhile, Iranian drones and missiles have targeted US bases and cities in the Gulf, including the US embassy in Riyadh, while Israel has faced strikes by Iran-aligned forces in Lebanon.
The violence has disrupted aviation and regional security, leading to numerous flight cancellations and closed airspace across the Gulf.
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