The US Department of State has called on Americans to immediately depart more than a dozen countries in the Middle East amid US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
Americans were urged to depart using commercial means from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, according to Mora Namdar, the State Department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs.
The advice came against the backdrop of continued Israeli strikes on Tehran tonight while air raid sirens were reported in the UAE and across Israel.
Israel also said it had “struck and dismantled” the headquarters of Iran’s state radio and television broadcaster during an attack on Tehran.
The strait is the world’s most vital oil export route, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea-
The closure was triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 seeking to topple its leaders, with US President Donald Trump offering Iranians help in ousting the ruling clerics.
In response, Iran fired several barrages of missiles at its Gulf neighbours hosting US military bases such as Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Tehran also fired missiles at the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
With this closure, Tehran made good on years of threats to block the narrow waterway in retaliation for any attack on the Islamic Republic.
At least 52 killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon
The US-Israeli air war against Iran expanded today, with Israel attacking Lebanon in response to strikes by Hezbollah, and Iran firing missiles and drones at Gulf states and a British air base as far away as Cyprus.
The Lebanese government said at least 52 people were killed in Israeli strikes and 154 others injured.
The bombings of southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs also displaced more than 28,500 people, according to the government’s disaster and management unit.
Israel’s military vowed to intensify its attacks on the country and make Hezbollah pay a “heavy price” after launching several strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and south Lebanon, areas where Hezbollah holds sway.
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