The US State Department allowed emergency government workers and their families to leave in multiple countries as the war with Iran entered its fifth day. In a statement released on Tuesday, the State Department said it was done because of security risks following the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Iran on February 28.
“Limited ability to offer emergency services”
“The continued threat of drone and missile attacks from Iran and significant disruption to commercial flights. Due to security risks, the US government has limited ability to offer emergency services to US citizens in Saudi Arabia,” the State Department said.
Citing the limited ability to offer emergency services to U.S. citizens in the Yemeni border region due to security risks, the State Department also restricted employees working in Saudi Arabia from traveling within 20 miles of the Yemeni border and the city of Qatif for unofficial reasons.
The U.S. Embassy also warned U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia of the risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks in the country.
She further noted that the Houthis in Yemen have launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia. Past attacks have targeted cities, infrastructure, airports, military bases and energy facilities across the country.
Other countries US employees requested to leave
Following the outbreak of war with Iran over the weekend, the US State Department ordered non-emergency personnel from US missions in Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan to leave, citing the “threat of armed conflict” and “security concerns”.
On Tuesday, the United States also added Oman, Cyprus and Pakistan to a list of countries from which non-emergency personnel have been allowed to leave because of the ongoing conflict in the region.
Earlier on Monday, the US evacuated its embassy in Amman, Jordan, due to security threats.
Iran targets US mission, bases in Middle East
In the past few days, several American diplomatic missions have come under Iranian attacks. This includes drone strikes on the US consulate in Dubai, the US embassy in Riyadh and the CIA station at the US embassy in Saudi Arabia.
This is in addition to the Iranian attacks on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.
Iran also claimed to have hit a US Navy destroyer in the Indian Ocean with “Ghadr-380” ballistic missiles and “Talaieh” cruise missiles.
Earlier, the IRGC claimed to have hit the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) denied Iran’s claims, saying the missiles “didn’t even come close” to Lincoln, which it said continued to launch aircraft in support of strikes against Iran.
“Legitimate Goals”
After Saturday’s strike in Tehran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran said all US and Israeli military bases in the Middle East were “legitimate targets” for retaliatory strikes as part of Operation True Promise 4.
President Masoud Pezeshkian declared it a “legitimate duty” to avenge Khamenei’s killing and described the actions of the US and Israel as a “declaration of war against Muslims”.
