By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday criticized the State Department for urging Americans in the Middle East to evacuate three days after the U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran began, saying the late warning and widespread flight disruptions showed poor planning and “incompetence.”
Appearing to respond to the criticism, Assistant Secretary for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson said on Tuesday that the Department was “actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave the Middle East,” but did not say when such flights would be available.
The Department was in contact with nearly 3,000 U.S. citizens abroad, Johnson added, urging citizens to call a phone number for assistance.
On Monday, the Department urged Americans across 14 countries in the Middle East to immediately depart the region using “available commercial transportation” without offering any U.S.-government-vouched means. The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem in a statement said it was unable to offer assistance to Americans trying to leave, although an official later said assistance was being offered.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said: “It all happened very quickly,” referring to the war with Iran, when asked why there were no plans to evacuate U.S. citizens.
Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees State Department spending, told Reuters: “President Trump said the biggest surprise is that Iran retaliated against our assets and partners, but that expected retaliation was the administration’s stated reason for our attack. The result is that Americans are stuck and in danger.”
“American tax payers are forced to give Israel $3.8 BILLION every single year, and here is our own U.S. embassy in Jerusalem telling Americans good luck getting out, you are on your own,” former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned from Congress after a split with Trump, said in a social media post.
“The betrayal is unbelievable,” Greene, who has long advocated against U.S. involvement in foreign wars, said.
The U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran, which started on Saturday, has already sent shock waves around the world, disrupting energy supplies and sending global air transport into chaos. Overnight, Iranian drones struck the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia.
Major Gulf aviation hubs, including the world’s busiest international airport, Dubai – which normally handles over 1,000 flights a day – remained closed for a fourth day on Tuesday, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded. Ticket prices have soared.
“Warnings to citizens to evacuate 3 days into this war, when airspace is closed, is a clear sign of ZERO strategy and planning by the Trump admin,” Democratic Senator Andy Kim said in a post on X.
“Now Americans have limited options to evacuate at an extremely dangerous moment with no government assistance. This administration is failing its citizens,” Kim added.
On Monday, a U.S. official said the Department activated an inter-agency task force to manage the situation and had launched a dedicated WhatsApp channel, which it said has amassed 15,000 followers. It did not mention any government assistance for evacuation of citizens.
SECURITY ALERTS
U.S. security alerts for Americans in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar and Bahrain, which urged them either to shelter in place or be prepared to do so, were disseminated after the U.S.-Israeli joint strikes on Iran began, according to time stamps on social media posts by the U.S. embassies in those countries.
U.S. evacuation orders and warnings for Americans and diplomatic staff across the Middle East were issued just before or days after the attack on Iran, compared with the weeks of notice given ahead of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“So the State Department is forcing everyone to immediately leave the region but is also refusing to help people leave the region,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said in a social media post. “Incompetence everywhere,” he added.
U.S. Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, urged the Trump administration to schedule U.S. government evacuation flights for the stranded Americans.
Crude oil benchmarks rose about 6% on Tuesday, soaring as the Iran conflict widened. In a social media post overnight, Trump said there was a “virtually unlimited supply” of U.S. munitions and that “wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies.”
‘CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY’
As Washington presses ahead with one of the most consequential military actions in recent history, the United States lacks Senate-confirmed ambassadors across many countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Algeria and the UAE.
“The U.S. Embassy is not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel,” the U.S. Embassy in Israel said in a social media post, adding that citizens can sign up for the shuttles operated by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism to the Taba border crossing with Egypt.
It reiterated that Washington could not ensure the safety of this route. “The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety,” it said.
A State Department official said hundreds of U.S. citizens have left Israel since the start of the conflict and that the Department had assisted more than 130 people to depart Israel and 100 more were expected to depart on Tuesday. The official did not say what kind of assistance the U.S. provided.
It was not immediately clear how many American and dual citizens are based in the region. The State Department urges its nationals to sign up with its database when they are abroad.
On Tuesday, the Department also announced that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their family members from U.S. embassies in Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE , Kuwait and Jordan. Similar measures have already been taken for U.S. missions in Lebanon and Israel.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis in Washington; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Franklin Paul and Matthew Lewis)
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