U.S. urges citizens to immediately depart over a dozen Middle Eastern countries

The U.S. Department of ‌State on Monday called on Americans to immediately depart more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, amid U.S-Israeli strikes against Iran and the Islamic Republic’s retaliatory strikes across the region.

Mora Namdar, the U.S. State Department's assistant secretary for ​consular affairs, said on X that U.S. citizens should leave using available commercial transportation due to safety risks.

The advisory applies to Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, ​Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United ​Arab Emirates and Yemen.

On Saturday, ​the United States and Israel carried out strikes on various targets in Iran, killing many top ‌officials, including ⁠Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran responded with its own strikes at multiple U.S. and Israel sites across the region.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the conflict had been projected to last four to five weeks, but that it could go on for longer.