Feds Urge Americans to Leave 14 Middle East Countries

The State Department urged Monday that all US citizens leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries due to safety risks with the ongoing escalations that have slipped the region into significant chaos. US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar posted on X that Americans in 14 countries, including Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel, should "DEPART NOW" using any available commercial transportation. Americans have also been urged to leave Bahrain, Egypt, the West Bank and Gaza, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The guidance comes as some major airlines have canceled flights to and from the region amid the war that began when the US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday. It has since grown into a wider regional conflict, touching nearly every country nearby.

• Pressed Monday on how long the US military would remain focused on Iran, Secretary Marco Rubio said as long as it takes, the AP reports. "The hardest hits are yet to come from the US military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now," he told reporters at the Capitol. "How long will it take? I don't know how long it will take," he said. "We have objectives. We will do this as long as it takes to achieve those objectives."