State Dept. scrambles to aid stranded Americans amid attacks, airport closures
The State Department is scrambling amid the fallout from President Donald Trump’s high-stakes military assault on Iran and Tehran’s blistering response, with at least three embassies in the Middle East shuttered as of Tuesday as violence worsened and U.S. citizens were left with limited means to escape.
The U.S. government was working to charter flights for American citizens in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and seeking to help people stranded elsewhere book tickets on commercial flights, according to the State Department. Speaking to reporters, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that almost 1,600 Americans were seeking help to leave the region and that the department also was identifying “military flight options.”
It was not immediately clear when the flights would become available — or whether they would be arranged for Americans in any of the 11 other countries and territories included in an urgent warning issued by the U.S. government late Monday.
Spokespeople for the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which referred to earlier remarks from Rubio. He had said that, at his direction, the State Department had activated a task force to provide Americans with updated security information.
A U.S. official, speaking like some others on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said that some military family members stationed in Bahrain have been flown to safety and that it is possible the military will be asked to do more for stranded Americans elsewhere in coming days, but that no evacuation flights were imminent as of Tuesday morning.
At a news briefing Wednesday, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military would open seats on some C-17 cargo planes and other aircraft “to try to help folks get out.”
American citizens in the Middle East have expressed frustration with what they say has been a lack of clarity from the administration as violence has reverberated across the region in the days since Trump approved the military operation against Iran. Iranian missiles and attack drones have struck Kuwait, Qatar, Israel, the UAE and other locations, including civilian targets.
The U.S. embassies in Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia were closed as of Tuesday, and U.S. citizens were told to stay away until further notice.
A State Department alert reviewed by The Washington Post said that the embassy in Riyadh was hit multiple times in drone attacks and that its main building was “contaminated with smoke,” with “part of its roof collapsed.” One drone hit a CIA station at the embassy, according to two people familiar with the incident.
In Kuwait City, a warehouse was set ablaze and the main building’s windows were damaged, according to another notification.
The decision to close the U.S. compound in Beirut was made because of “ongoing regional tensions,” officials said.
The closure of key diplomatic sites stands to further upend efforts to assist U.S. citizens who wish to leave the Middle East. The warning issued late Monday applies to 14 countries and territories and cites “serious safety risks.”
Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill, where he spoke to lawmakers about the situation, that “our embassies and our diplomatic facilities are under direct attack.” He also confirmed that the U.S. Consulate in Dubai had been targeted, sparking a fire in an adjacent parking lot. Rubio said all personnel there were accounted for.
Trump made brief mention of the stranded Americans during an Oval Office meeting. “Well, because it happened all very quickly,” he said when asked why there wasn’t an evacuation plan.
“I thought we were going to have a situation where we were going to be attacked,” the president added, without offering any evidence that Iran was seeking to strike the United States ahead of the U.S. assault, which began Saturday. The administration has offered varying rationales for attacking Iran — from regime change to preemption to eliminating its nuclear program and ballistic missiles.
The situation facing Americans overseas has been made more perilous by the apparent targeting of tourist sites by Iranian forces, including hotels and airports. The State Department has encouraged U.S. citizens to flee using commercial transportation, where available, but wide-scale airspace closures have made a quick exit difficult, if not impossible, in many places.
Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, wrote on social media early Tuesday that for Americans living in or visiting the Jewish state, “there are VERY LIMITED options,” as Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv remained closed and there was no indication when it may reopen.
He recommended that people take a tourist bus to Egypt and seek a flight from there, saying travel through neighboring Jordan was not advised, as “flights are not consistent.” The U.S. Embassy is “not in a position at this time” to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.
Neither the State Department nor Huckabee responded immediately to requests for comment about the memo, which arrived at a distressing moment for staff amid Iran’s onslaught of drone and missile attacks.
At least eight countries have completely closed their airspace, at least temporarily, since the start of hostilities, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Israel, according to an online flight tracker, Flightradar24.
Qatar Airways said Tuesday that its flights remained suspended. Huckabee said that even once Ben Gurion Airport reopens, “there will be VERY limited flights,” with priority given to people who already were ticketed by El Al, Israel’s national carrier. “Doubtful,” he added, “that other airlines will fly in/out for a while.”
Cristina, an American in the UAE, said she is feeling “frustrated and deeply uncertain about what steps to take.” She spoke with The Post on the condition that only her first name be used for fear of reprisals under state restrictions on “circulating rumors.”
“The most difficult part is not the situation itself, but the absence of clarity, compounded by messages that only heighten fear without offering direction,” she said. She has been trying to secure a flight out of the country since the start of the war, “but, until now, it simply hasn’t been possible.”
She said she had heard of some people leaving through Oman but added, “That route feels logistically overwhelming.”
The State Department convened what it called an Iran task force on Saturday to “assist American citizens and support diplomatic efforts,” according to a statement released to reporters. Officials have urged news organizations and media networks to share phone numbers and websites that U.S. citizens can use to alert authorities to their location and situation.
“It all starts by knowing that you’re there,” Rubio said on Capitol Hill. Americans have to “register with us,” he added, so they can be contacted as options to leave open up.
The phone number that the State Department urged stranded citizens to call offered little immediate help as of late Tuesday afternoon. An automated outgoing message to callers said: “Please do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time. There are currently no United States evacuation points. Please continue to check the embassy’s website for updated information.”
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California), responding to Rubio on social media, asked why the State Department hadn’t advised U.S. citizens in the region to register before Saturday’s strikes, arguing that the Trump administration had “made no secret of amassing military forces and equipment near Iran for weeks and weeks and weeks.”
“Massive dereliction of duty. Unacceptable lack of planning,” the congressman wrote.
A retired senior U.S. military officer with experience in evacuation operations said Tuesday that such missions are complex under optimal circumstances and grow even more challenging when departures are limited by a desire to preserve the element of surprise, as in Saturday’s strikes on Iran.
“It’s the strongest signal you can send that there’s about to be a fight when you start ordering your own citizens to leave,” the officer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. “It also commits a significant amount of your force that can otherwise be devoted to warfighting.”
Virtually all of the countries involved in the Middle East have a significant number of American citizens in them, and it is challenging to assess whether it is safest for them to leave through commercial airlines, military flights or other means, the retired officer said. With attacks continuing, he said, the situation can change day to day.
While it can be frustrating in the moment, it’s sometimes safest for people to hunker down where they are rather than gathering at airports or other high-profile locations that could become targets, the retired officer said.
“I realize you might not like it. I realize that it’s scary at times,” this person said. “But you’re probably okay where you’re at.”