The Trump administration faces a major diplomatic crisis as escalating conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran forces the largest American embassy drawdown in the Middle East since the Iraq War. More than 9,000 Americans have returned home since the weekend, while the State Department struggles to assist citizens amid embassy closures and staff evacuations across 14 countries.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration confronts an unprecedented diplomatic challenge as escalating warfare involving the United States, Israel, and Iran triggers the most extensive American embassy evacuation from the Middle East in over twenty years.
State Department officials have been compelled to restrict public access to multiple embassies, completely close at least one consular office, mandate the evacuation of diplomatic personnel and their families from six countries, and issue urgent departure warnings to American citizens across 14 nations, even as the conflict has disrupted major airports and canceled numerous flights.
Despite these challenges, the department reported Tuesday that over 9,000 Americans have successfully returned from Middle Eastern countries since the weekend, with many managing their departure independently, while officials continue outreach efforts to those requesting assistance.
“The State Department was securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave the Middle East,” Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for public affairs, announced Tuesday on X. He noted that department officials have contacted nearly 3,000 Americans seeking departure assistance or information about evacuation procedures.
Officials are coordinating charter aircraft departures from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. For nations where aviation facilities or airspace have been shuttered, the department is facilitating overland transportation to countries with operational airports, such as Egypt and Oman.
However, emergency diplomatic staff reductions and facility shutdowns since weekend strikes against Iran commenced have severely hampered the government’s capacity to provide standard citizen services. Consular operations remain unavailable across numerous locations, while personnel cuts have restricted vital official communications with allied and partner nations during wartime, affecting operations in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The magnitude of America’s regional diplomatic withdrawal matches or surpasses measures implemented before and after the 2003 Iraq invasion. During that period, the State Department decreased personnel across more than twelve nations and urged American citizens to depart or seriously contemplate leaving countries spanning the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia from Morocco through Pakistan.
Monday brought a rapidly issued announcement posted on X instructing Americans to evacuate Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen despite widespread transportation disruptions.
Early Tuesday, Americans learned that the State Department had directed non-essential diplomatic staff and embassy families to depart Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
Embassies in Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia also suspended public operations Tuesday. However, only one diplomatic facility — the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan — had entirely halted all activities.
A drone assault on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh resulted in a “limited fire,” according to Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry.
The Riyadh attack caused partial roof collapse at the embassy, though no fatalities or staff injuries occurred, according to an internal State Department document. The memo also reported no casualties after two drones struck near the embassy in Kuwait City.
Regional confusion has emerged, prompting questions about preparations for potential military operations and their effects on travel and American citizen safety overseas, which represents the State Department’s fundamental duty.
“If Americans are being instructed to leave but are given no viable pathway, that suggests one of two things: The system is not being activated, or the system has atrophied,” explained Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, an organization supporting Afghan nationals seeking U.S. entry after serving alongside American forces in Afghanistan.
VanDiver referenced the Biden administration’s organization of 121,000 evacuations within days during the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.
“Crisis response cannot be partisan,” he emphasized. “It has to survive transitions. It has to be staffed, exercised, and protected. The oversight question is straightforward: Was the post-Afghanistan crisis response architecture sustained, or has it been weakened?”
The State Department has not yet responded to inquiries regarding planning for embassy and consulate staffing or citizen assistance protocols during potential Iranian conflict.
The federal government lacks authority to force American citizens to leave any nation. In exceptional cases, it may prohibit U.S. passport usage for travel to specific destinations. Currently, only North Korea faces such restrictions. However, before strikes began, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated Friday that similar restrictions might apply to Iran.
State Department travel advisories, including warnings against visiting or remaining in certain countries, frequently go unheeded. Many individuals maintain residences or close family connections in these areas and choose to disregard or decline official guidance.
Substantial numbers of American citizens live throughout or visit the Middle East regularly. The State Department declines to provide population estimates since Americans face no requirement to register their presence in foreign countries. Officials maintain that any estimate would lack accuracy.
Tens of thousands of American citizens, including many with dual nationality, are thought to reside in Israel, Lebanon, Egypt and Iran.