US State Department Urges Americans to Immediately Depart Much of Middle East Amid Escalating Iran War
The US State Department urged Americans to depart much of the Middle East due to serious safety risks linked to the Iran war. The warning comes as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the strongest US strikes are still ahead.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The United States State Department on Tuesday, urged Americans to immediately leave much of the Middle East, citing serious safety risks linked to the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.
Mora Namdar, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, wrote in a post on X that the State Department “urges Americans to DEPART NOW from the countries below using available commercial transportation, due to serious safety risks.”
The advisory listed the following countries and territories:
Bahrain
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
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 24/7 at +1-202-501-4444 (from… pic.twitter.com/vdplAik2Sq
— Assistant Secretary Mora Namdar (@AsstSecStateCA) March 2, 2026
Rubio said US military operations remain in their early stages, declaring: “The strongest strikes by the US military are still on the way and have not yet been executed,” and warning that the next phase “will be far more punitive and severe.”
He emphasized that Washington’s objectives are the destruction of Iran’s ballistic missile and naval capabilities, not regime change.
“We have specific objectives, and we will persist until we reach them and accomplish them. When this operation is complete, the world will be a safer place,” Rubio said.
Rubio also described the US attack on Iran as “pre-emptive,” explaining: “We knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”
As military operations intensify and evacuation warnings expand across the region, Washington’s call for Americans to depart underscores the scale and volatility of the escalating conflict.