The State Department is urging Americans across the Mideast to leave as the strikes continue
The State Department on Monday urged Americans across the Middle East to leave as soon as possible using all available transportation, even as many airports across the region remain closed as airstrikes continue.
The weekend US and Israeli strikes on Iran have caused widespread disruption at US embassies and embassies across the Middle East as Iran retaliates. The US embassy in Bahrain is closed. In Kuwait, Americans were told to stay indoors. In Jordan, political workers were temporarily evacuated on Monday due to the threat.
Americans have been told to shelter in place until further notice as Iran retaliates across the region for the US-Israeli attack.
The State Department issued a “global” warning to all Americans overseas on Saturday, the first since June 22, 2025, after the US intervened in the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran. The State Department doesn’t release its communications history, so it’s unclear how many Americans are working in the Middle East.
But on Monday, State Department officials urged Americans to leave Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump suggested the war could last a month or more. The US and Israel attacked a number of targets, including command and control areas of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian air defense forces, missile and air force launch sites and a military base. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the attack.
Six US service members were killed in action, and 18 were seriously injured, the official said. The Iranian Red Crescent said more than 200 people have died and around 700 others have been injured in Iran.
The State Department has created a task force to assist US citizens, but with a growing number of US embassies and embassies suspending regular and emergency services, Americans in the region are left with limited options.
The airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha – including Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world – are important hubs for travel between Europe, Africa and the West to Asia. All three were hit by strikes, according to the Associated Press.
Oliver Sims, a 24-year-old content creator from Dallas, got stuck in Doha on his way back from a friend’s wedding in India. He contacted the American embassy there but they said they could not help him immediately.
“They had so many emergency calls coming in that they had to hang up,” he told NBC News.
Sims contacted his senator, John Cornyn, whose office assured him that he knew his location. “They said they would notify me of any plans to remove American citizens,” he told NBC News.
Sims said he feels safe and has been able to work away from his hotel room in Doha, but his parents are worried.
“My parents keep calling” asking if he is safe and there is no other way he can get out of the country. For now, Sims is taking it easy, but he hopes to be back in Dallas in time to celebrate his 25th birthday on Saturday.
In a video posted on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained how Americans can contact State Department officials.
“Our top priority is the safety and security of American citizens everywhere in the world,” Rubio said.
In Bahrain, after the strike at the Crowne Plaza hotel in the capital city of Manama, Americans were warned to avoid all hotels because they could be victims of attacks. The US Embassy remained closed and all regular and emergency consular appointments were cancelled.
