WASHINGTON – Days after the US and Israel launched an air war against Iran, the State Department issued new advice, warning Americans to reconsider traveling to several countries in the region. By then it was too late.
Thousands of Americans are now stranded in the Middle East as Iran retaliates with drone attacks on U.S. facilities, prompting Democratic lawmakers and current and former State Department officials to sharply criticize the Trump administration for failing to plan for the scenario they envisioned.
“You have very few people in harm’s way,” said a senior State Department official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
U.S. citizens stranded in countries such as Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have received conflicting advice from the State Department. Although the airports are closed, some places have been told to evacuate as soon as possible. The State Department advised people to contact US embassies for help, only to be met by busy signals or distressed personnel unable to provide assistance.
“These problems are predictable,” dozens of Democrats in Congress wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “The lack of clear preparation, planning and communication for Americans abroad is unacceptable and a violation of the State Department’s core mission of providing consular assistance and protection for US citizens overseas.”
US officials — and President Donald Trump himself — have struggled to explain why the government is ill-prepared for the consequences of Iranian retaliation and what messages to convey to Americans in the region.
“It happened very quickly,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
In the past few days, the US embassy in Jordan was evacuated due to an attack threat, the US embassy compound in Kuwait was hit by a drone, the US embassy in Saudi Arabia caught fire after being hit by two Iranian drones, and a drone attack burned a parking lot outside the US consulate in Dubai, UAE.
At least six American service members have been killed since the US and Israel attacked Iran. But there were no reports of US citizens being injured.
White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt pushed back Wednesday against criticism that the administration should have done more to warn Americans and help those stranded overseas.
“The State Department has put up a lot of signs,” Leavitt said.
He said Rubio had issued “level 4 travel advisories since January for several countries in the region.”
That’s the highest level, which gives a “do not travel” warning. Some countries had that designation before the war, including Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
But only after the air campaign began over the weekend did the State Department issue Level 3 “travel review” advisories for at least seven countries in the region: Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Cyprus.
The Defense Department said the military planned to help the evacuation effort with C-17 cargo planes, and State Department officials said they were arranging charter flights to take Americans out of the war zone.
Late Wednesday, the State Department said one such flight had left the Middle East and was headed to the US at X.
Rubio told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. has organized flights for American citizens but some countries have closed their airspace because of the Iranian airstrikes.
“The challenge we face is the closure of airspace,” Rubio said, “but rest assured, we are confident we will be able to help every American.”
As of Wednesday, the State Department said it had assisted nearly 6,500 Americans abroad, providing security guidance and travel assistance.
Current and former diplomats say the administration’s drastic cuts to the State Department’s workforce, as well as the failure to nominate ambassadors to several Arab countries affected by the crisis, have shortened the Foreign Service at a moment when it needs experienced veterans to manage the growing crisis.
“You’re hearing a really mixed message from the White House,” said a former senior State Department official.
“When you don’t have professionals like you normally see, when you don’t have confirmed ambassadors in post, you don’t have direct connections with the White House, I think that really affects our planning and our messaging.”
The American Foreign Service Association, which acts as a union for employees of the US diplomatic corps, said the crisis “reveals a real gap in America’s diplomatic preparedness” after the administration cut State Department employees.
The association warned that “the State Department’s capacity has been weakened by the loss of experienced personnel with critical regional, crisis management, consular and linguistic expertise, including Farsi and Arabic skills, which are indispensable in moments like these.”
Cody Green, 36, an American from Tampa, Florida, was on a work trip to Dubai when the war broke out.
“It’s my son’s first birthday today. I promised my wife I’d be home on time — and look what happened,” Green told NBC News on Wednesday.
He said he called a phone number released by the State Department for Americans stranded in the Middle East but got no help.
“It’s an automatic way that the US has no plan to protect you and you have to make your own arrangements,” he said.
Added Green: “I feel betrayed and left out to dry by my own government who started this whole thing without any plan to evict their own people.”
