By Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) – The United States on Tuesday said it was pulling out non-essential personnel from several U.S. missions across the Middle East and advised American citizens to immediately leave the region even as air travel remains severely disrupted due to U.S.-Israeli military operation on Iran.
The State Department announced that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their family members from U.S. embassies in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan. Similar measures have already been taken for U.S. missions in Lebanon and Israel.
It has also on Monday urged American citizens across 16 countries in the Middle East to leave now using “available commercial transportation”. The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem said it was unable to offer assistance to Americans trying to leave.
“You told Americans to depart now via commercial means when you know many airports/airspace are closed,” Congressman Ted Lieu wrote in an X post and said Washington must immediately schedule U.S. government evacuation flights for the stranded Americans.
“Maybe you should have thought of a frickin’ plan first,” Lieu wrote.
U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran, which started on Saturday, has already sent shockwaves around the world, disrupting energy supplies and sending global air transport into chaos. Overnight, Iranian drones struck the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia.
As Washington presses ahead with one of the most consequential military actions in recent history, the United States lacks Senate-confirmed ambassadors across many countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Algeria and the UAE.
Major Gulf aviation hubs, including the world’s busiest international airport, Dubai – which normally handles over 1,000 flights a day – remained closed for a fourth day on Tuesday, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded. Ticket prices have soared.
“The U.S. Embassy is not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel,” the embassy said in an X post and said citizens can sign up to the shuttles being operated by Israeli Ministry of Tourism to the Taba border crossing with Egypt.
It reiterated that Washington cannot ensure the safety of this route.
“The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety,” it said.
The State Department did not immediately respond to questions on how exactly Americans should be departing in the absence of available commercial flights.
On Monday, a U.S. official said the department activated an inter-agency task force to manage the situation and had launched a dedicated WhatsApp channel, which it said has amassed 15,000 followers. It did not mention any government assistance for evacuation of citizens.
Crude oil benchmarks rose about 7% on Tuesday, soaring for a third session as the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran widened. In a social media post overnight, Trump said there was a “virtually unlimited supply” of U.S. munitions and that “wars can be fought “forever,” and very successfully, using just these supplies.”
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Franklin Paul)
