by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:00 AM ET, Tue March 3, 2026
The United States Department of State is urging American
citizens living, visiting, or working in 14 countries in the Middle East to
return to America as the war against Iran continues to create violence across
the region.
According to The
Wall Street Journal, the State Department said there are “serious safety
risks” throughout the Middle East and warned U.S. citizens to “depart now”
using commercial transportation.
Americans in the following impacted areas are being advised
to leave immediately: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, “the West Bank,”
Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United
Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The State Department revealed that the new warning could
impact “hundreds of thousands of Americans” living in the impacted countries.
As airspace in the Middle East remains closed due to the
attacks on Iran and the country’s retaliatory strikes, the price of flights
between Asia and Europe has soared, according to Reuters.com.
Several major travel hubs across the Middle East, including
Dubai, one of the world's busiest international airports, remained closed for a
fourth day on Tuesday, creating travel chaos for those trying to leave the
region.
On Monday, several international airlines restarted
a small number of flights from the United Arab Emirates. Etihad Airways,
Emirates, and FlyDubai announced plans to operate select flights from Abu Dhabi
and Dubai despite the ongoing airstrikes from the U.S. and Israel in Iran.
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