US Urges Exit from 14 Middle East Countries
The U.S. State Department is urging Americans to immediately leave 14 Middle Eastern countries due to ongoing regional instability following attacks on Iran. Hundreds of thousands of travelers remain stranded across the region as airlines work to restore normal operations. Air travel is slowly resuming after dramatic airspace closures, but continuing uncertainty and logistical hurdles persist at major hubs like Dubai, Doha, and Istanbul.
The "depart now" advisory from the State Department encompasses a wide swath of the region, including Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. This guidance elevates previous warnings and urges private citizens to leave via any available commercial transport, rather than anticipating a government-coordinated evacuation. The urgency follows a major joint U.S.-Israeli military operation against targets in at least nine Iranian cities, which began on Saturday, February 28. Iran retaliated swiftly with missile and drone attacks on U.S. military and civilian targets across several countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. This has led to the unprecedented simultaneous closure of the Gulf's three main aviation hubs: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. Iran's retaliatory strikes have caused direct physical damage to key infrastructure. Dubai International Airport (DXB), the world's busiest for international travel, and Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport both sustained damage. Iranian attacks also targeted luxury hotels and other civilian areas in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The aviation shutdown is among the most severe in history, with over 11,000 flights canceled since Saturday, affecting more than 1 million passengers. Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows that the three major Gulf airlines—Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad—collectively handle about 90,000 transit passengers daily. Tens of thousands of travelers are now stranded, with reports of up to 30,000 German tourists and 58,000 Indonesian pilgrims caught in the disruption. Airspace remains completely or partially closed over Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Syria. While the UAE announced a limited resumption of flights, over 90% of scheduled flights from Dubai were still canceled as of Monday. U.S. Embassies throughout the region have suspended routine consular services and have issued "shelter in place" orders for government personnel in locations including Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.
