U.S. urges Americans in Middle East to prepare to leave

The State Department urged Americans across the Middle East on Saturday to consider leaving the region or be ready to depart quickly, citing security risks, flight cancellations and airspace closures as the conflict with Iran intensifies.

The alert, reposted by U.S. embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, warned of “unexpected escalation” and said Americans should exercise “caution and heightened vigilance.”

“Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions,” the State Department said. “Some airlines in the region have postponed resumption of earlier flight schedules; others have cancelled some routes. Americans in the region should consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation.”

The department also said Americans outside the Middle East should “seriously reconsider travel to and through the region.” In a separate portion of the alert reported by the BBC, the State Department said U.S. diplomatic facilities, including some outside the Middle East, had been targeted and warned that “Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world.”

The warning came as President Donald Trump signaled possible further military action against Iran. At a cabinet meeting Friday, with reporters still in the room, Trump said: “We’ll be hitting them [Iranians] very hard. At some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”

The BBC reported that U.S. media quoted officials as saying Trump could order fresh strikes against Iran as soon as this weekend. CBS News, the BBC’s media partner in the United States, reported that the U.S. and Israel were planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran, citing multiple sources. CBS said the plan came up during Trump’s cabinet meeting Friday and that some White House aides focused on politics strongly opposed it.

Tehran accused Washington of escalating tensions and warned that any regional state cooperating with the U.S. would be “engulfed by the flames of war,” the BBC reported. Iran has also vowed to “punish” the U.S., according to NBC News.

On Thursday, the U.S. military said it had carried out a “heavy wave” of strikes on Iran in retaliation for attempted ballistic missile attacks on American forces. U.S. Central Command said it struck “dozens” of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets after Tehran fired on U.S. bases in Jordan and at ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media said three people, including a 2-year-old child, were killed in the U.S. strikes.

On Saturday, the Kuwait Army said its air defenses were intercepting drone attacks from Iran. “Kuwaiti air defenses are currently engaging hostile drone attacks following the Iranian aggression,” the army said. “The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosions heard are a result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks.”

NBC News reported that the conflict has entered its sixth month despite Trump’s earlier predictions that it would resolve “shortly,” and that it has contributed to soaring global oil prices and rising U.S. gas prices. NBC reported that a June memorandum of understanding outlined a process for talks to end the war before Trump declared a ceasefire “over” in early July. The BBC reported that Washington and Tehran have exchanged strikes since an April ceasefire aimed at pausing the war fell apart in June.