US urges Americans to ‘depart now’ from Middle East

The United States has issued an urgent advisory asking American citizens to depart now from over a dozen Middle Eastern countries due to serious safety risks as tensions escalated following coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran and Tehrans retaliatory strikes against the US allies in the GulfSharing a video message in a post on X Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged its citizens to immediately depart from several Middle Eastern countries citing serious safety risks To all American citizens in the Middle East your safety and security is our number one priority Sign up to receive STEP alerts at httpstepstategov Get information at TravelGov and you can call the department 247 at 12025014444 Rubio wrote in its postTo all American citizens in the Middle East your safety and security is our number one prioritySign up to receive STEP alerts at httpstcoSpQfuj4gN2Get information at TravelGov and you can call the department 247 at 12025014444 pictwittercomG8grZVgmCFmdash Secretary Marco Rubio SecRubio March 2 2026Separately in a post on X Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar wrote The SecRubio StateDept urges Americans to DEPART NOW from the countries below using available commercial transportation due to serious safety risks Americans who need State Department assistance arranging to depart via commercial means CALL US 247 at 12025014444 from abroad and 18884074747 from the US and Canada ENROLL in httpstepstategov to get the latest security updates from the nearest US embassy or consulate the post readThe SecRubio StateDept urges Americans to DEPART NOW from the countries below using available commercial transportation due to serious safety risks Americans who need State Department assistance arranging to depart via commercial means CALL US 247 at 12025014444 fromhellip pictwittercomvdplAik2Sqmdash Assistant Secretary Mora Namdar AsstSecStateCA March 2 2026The advisory updated on March 2 at 4 pm EST applies to Bahrain Kuwait Egypt Lebanon Iran Oman Iraq Qatar Israel the West Bank and Gaza Saudi Arabia Syria Jordan the United Arab Emirates and YemenMeanwhile United States Central Command CENTCOM confirmed that six US service members have been killed in action amid ongoing hostilities in the Middle East following Irans initial attacks in the regionIn a post on X CENTCOM wrote TAMPA Fla As of 4 pm ET March 2 six US service members have been killed in action US forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccountedfor service members from a facility that was struck during Irans initial attacks in the region Major combat operations continue The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notificationCENTCOM Update TAMPA Fla ndash As of 4 pm ET March 2 six US service members have been killed in action US forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Irans initial attacks in the regionhellipmdash US Central Command CENTCOM March 2 2026This came against the backdrop of coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes across multiple Iranian cities on February 28 targeting military command centres airdefence systems missile sites and key regime infrastructureThese strikes resulted in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and four senior military and security officials with large explosions reported in Tehran and other major citiesIn response Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles and drones at US assets and allies across the region including Israel Bahrain Kuwait Qatar the United Arab Emirates and Jordan further widening the conflict in the Middle East and heightening risks for civilians and expatriates alikeEarlier today President Donald Trump said that the United States will continue its military operation against Iran to eliminate the regimes missile capabilities nuclear ambitions and support for terrorismThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever