The U.S. Embassies
for multiple countries across the Middle
East have individually issued official security alerts for their own personnel
and all Americans in the region to shelter in place until further notice following
joint U.S.-Israel
military strikes on Iran, which have resulted in the death of Iran’s
supreme leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei.
Here are links to
individual shelter-in-place alerts from some of the impacted countries:
West Bay on the Corniche in Doha, Qatar. (Photo Credit: gb27photo / Adobe Stock)
Even prior to the confirmed
killing of Iran’s decades-long leader, the U.S. Department of State also issued
a worldwide
security alert in light of the initial attacks on Iran, which began on Saturday,
February 28. The State Department recommends that Americans worldwide “exercise
increased caution.”
“Following the
launch of U.S. combat operations in Iran, Americans worldwide and especially in
the Middle East should follow the guidance in the latest security alerts issued
by the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate,” according to the advisory. It added,
“They may experience travel disruptions due to periodic airspace closures.”
“Please remain
vigilant, as the Iranian government and its proxies may seek to target
Americans in retaliation for U.S. strikes against Iran,” the U.S. Embassy in Qatar
warned as part of its shelter-in-place advisory.
The Western Wall at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo Credit: VanderWolf Images / Adobe Stock)
An Iranian
official told CNN
that U.S. President Donald Trump had crossed a “very dangerous red line” after Khamenei’s
demise at the hands of the U.S. military. Trump has reportedly signaled that
the strikes against Iran would continue over the course of the week, especially
given Iran’s new wave of retaliatory attacks in response to the killing of its Ayatollah.
Meanwhile, Israel
confirmed having carried out fresh assaults on the Iranian capital city of Tehran.
“Over the past
day, the Israeli Air Force conducted large-scale strikes in order to establish
aerial superiority and to pave the path to Tehran,” its military arm said in a March
1 statement. “For the first time since the start of Operation ‘Roaring Lion’: The
IDF is striking targets that belong to the Iranian terror regime in the heart
of Tehran.”
As a result of the
ongoing violence, flights
to the Middle East have been impacted, with more than 2,400 flights across
airports in the region canceled on Sunday, CBS
News reported. Airports in the UAE’s
Dubai
and Abu Dhabi, Qatar’s capital city of Doha and Bahrain’s Manama are among those
that remain shut down this weekend.
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