State Department warns US citizens to be ready to leave Middle East as Iran tensions boil

The US State Department has issued new security alerts for Americans in 10 countries in the Middle East region to be “prepared to depart” due to the escalating tensions with Iran.

The warnings – covering Bahrain, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – urged American citizens to prepare for possible flight cancellations, temporary airspace closures and other travel disruptions.

The warning came after US President Donald Trump warned on Friday (US time) that US forces would hit Iran “very hard” until the country could not take any more.

Speaking to reporters during a meeting with members of his cabinet at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, Trump said, “we just want to win” in Iran. He signalled that he expected American military action to continue for some time.

Later that day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed the administration’s frustration anew, accusing Tehran of last month signing a memorandum of understanding on a truce but then quickly “broke it, shot at commercial ships, and killed American soldiers”.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to step up attacks on Iran in recent weeks, signalling the possibility of targeting critical infrastructure like power plants and bridges, but has yet to follow through.

The US conducted a “heavy wave of strikes” last Wednesday, according to US Central Command, though no further strikes have been reported in the last few days.

According to CNN, Trump is under significant political pressure to end the war, which is deeply unpopular in the US. Only 28 per cent of Americans approve of his handling of the conflict, which has caused economic pain, including rising fuel prices.

The effects of the war have rippled far beyond the Gulf, driving up inflation worldwide while threatening to engulf more of the Middle East.

New attacks on Kuwait

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s military on Saturday said its forces were responding to Iranian drone attacks.

In a statement, Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi said the drones hit a number of vital facilities, including a government structure in the country’s north. He said there were no casualties.

Separately, the British Royal Navy said a tanker was struck, and another explosion hit close to a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. No casualties were reported in either incident, it said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organisation said an unknown projectile hit the vessel on Friday some 20 kilometres north-east of Lima, Oman. The attack damaged the vessel’s engine room.

A day later, the group said a large splash and an explosion were reported near another tanker while it was sailing about 38 kilometres north-west of the city of Khasab.

Separately, crude oil appeared to be leaking and spreading in recent days from a sanctioned tanker grounded off the coast of Oman, close to a marine protected area, satellite images reviewed by the Associated Press show.

Iran has repeatedly attacked vessels attempting to transit through the Strait of Hormuz without its authorisation as part of the ongoing conflict.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels forced eight Saudi ships to reroute from the Bab el-Mandeb strait after the Iranian-backed group announced a blockade on Saudi shipping in the choke point.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the military spokesperson for the Houthis, said in a statement on Friday that the vessels changed course to the Cape of Good Hope around Africa to avert the blockade.

AP

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