The United States has urged its citizens to leave 15 Middle Eastern countries immediately as war between the US, Israel and Iran intensifies.
The State Department of US issued the alert after strikes against Iran escalated tensions across the region.
According to Al Jazeera, the warning was issued on Monday local time. It instructed US nationals in 15 countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to depart as quickly as possible.
Earlier, Washington had issued separate travel advisories for several countries, advising against travel. The latest alert expands that guidance and calls for immediate departure.
The warning 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.
In a message on social media platform X, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs of US, Mora Namdar urged US citizens to “leave now” using available commercial transport due to serious security risks.
Earlier on Monday, the US embassy in Amman, Jordan, said its staff had departed the diplomatic compound due to threats.
Al Jazeera’s Washington correspondent Patty Culhane said it was unusual for such an announcement to come through social media from a State Department official.
She noted that formal policy announcements typically follow established procedures. It remains unclear whether this constitutes an official policy declaration.
Questions have also emerged over how US citizens will leave the region, as missile attacks have severely disrupted commercial flights across the Middle East.
On Saturday, the United States and Israel launched large-scale strikes on Iran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top officials were killed, according to the report. Tehran responded with retaliatory attacks across the region.
Amid the escalating exchanges, President Donald Trump said on Monday that the conflict had been expected to last four to five weeks, but it could continue for longer.
