WASHINGTON – The State Department is increasing the number of emergency evacuation flights available for American citizens who want to depart Israel. Additionally, nonessential staff from the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon have been instructed to leave due to rising concerns about potential retaliation from Iran against U.S. interests in the Middle East.
In internal and public notices, the department over the weekend significantly ramped up its cautionary advice to Americans in the Mideast.
In response to recent American airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the State Department issued a notice on Sunday announcing the mandatory departure of nonessential embassy personnel and their families from Beirut, Lebanon. This decision was based on the current volatile and unpredictable security conditions in the region.
While the notice did not specify any specific evacuation flights or support for private American citizens in Lebanon, it advised those interested in leaving to utilize commercial transportation services whenever possible. The situation remains dynamic and further updates may be provided as needed.
At the same time, the department issued warnings to U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia and Turkey to take extra security precautions given the uncertainty.
“Given reports of regional hostilities, the U.S. Mission to Saudi Arabia has advised its personnel to exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to any military installations in the region,” the department said in its notice for Saudi Arabia.
In Turkey, the department said U.S. personnel “have been cautioned to maintain a low profile and instructed to avoid personal travel to the U.S. Consulate Adana consular district,” which includes the NATO airbase at Incirlik.
“Negative sentiment toward U.S. foreign policy may prompt actions against U.S. or Western interests in Turkey,” the statement said.
Late Saturday, the department said it was stepping up evacuation flights for American citizens from Israel to Europe and continuing to draw down its staff at diplomatic missions in Iraq.
But even before the U.S. airstrikes on Iran were made public by President Donald Trump on Saturday evening in Washington, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem had announced the start of evacuation flights for private Americans from Israel.
Sixty-seven American citizens left Israel on two government flights bound for Athens, Greece on Saturday and four more evacuation flights to Athens were planned for Sunday, according to internal State Department document seen by The Associated Press. A nongovernment charter flight is scheduled to depart Israel for Rome on Monday.
In addition to the flights, a cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 American citizens, including several hundred Jewish youngsters who had been visiting Israel on an organized tour, arrived in Cyprus, according to the document.
It also said the evacuation of non-essential personnel at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and consulate in Erbil is continuing. Those staffers had been ordered to leave even before Israel began its military operation in Iran more than a week ago. “As part of our ongoing effort to streamline operations, additional personnel departed Iraq on June 21 and 22,” the department said. “These departures represent a continuation of the process started on June 12.”
As of Saturday, more than 7,900 Americans had asked for assistance in leaving Israel and more than 1,000 had sought help in leaving Iran, where the U.S. has no diplomatic presence, the document said.
There are roughly 700,000 Americans, many of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, in Israel and many thousands of Americans, most of them dual U.S.-Iranian.citizens, in Iran. It was not clear how many Americans had successfully made it out of Iran through overland routes, although the document said more than 200 had entered neighboring Azerbaijan as of Saturday since the conflict began.
After the U.S. strikes in Iran, security officers at all U.S. embassies and consulates have been instructed to conduct reviews of their post’s security posture and report back to the State Department by late Sunday.
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