Embassies of the United States in several countries in West Asia have urged American citizens to “consider departing” the region amid fears of an escalation in the conflict with Iran.
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📌Trump warns of more strikes on Iran
📌Renewed attacks on shipping
The attacks on shipping renewed, with the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) saying on Saturday that it had received reports of two tanker incidents off Oman.
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“Americans in the region should consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation,” said a security alert, versions of which were posted by the US missions in Amman, Jerusalem and Baghdad on social media. The messages urged Americans in the region to check flight details and follow the safety advice by local authorities, AFP reported.
“Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions,” the alert said. This comes even as US and Iran resumed overnight exchanges of fire this week after a brief halt in fighting.
US President Donald Trump threatened more strikes on Iran, even as the sticking point of the Strait of Hormuz reopening remains. Speaking to reporters on Friday during a meeting with his cabinet members at Camp David, Trump said “we just want to win,” the Associated Press reported.
He further signalled that the US military action in the region could continue for some time, saying Washington would hit Iran “very hard”.
📌Iran accuses US of ‘escalation tensions’
Meanwhile, the Iranian military on Saturday accused the US of “escalating tensions” in West Asia, warning countries in the region against cooperating with Washington.
“The United States is rapidly moving down the path of escalating tensions in the region,” Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran’s military central command, said, according to AFP. “Any country serving as defensive shield for criminal and aggressive America will be engulfed by the flames of war,” Abdollahi said in the statement.
📌Strikes on Kuwait
Kuwait’s military on Saturday said its forces were responding to drone attacks, claiming it was part of the Iranian attacks on the country.Maj. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, spokesman for Kuwait’s defense ministry, said the drones hit “a number of vital facilities,” including a government structure in the country’s north.
In the statement, Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi said there were no casualties reported in the strikes.
In the first, a tanker was reportedly struck by an unknown projectile about 11 nautical miles northeast of Oman’s Lima, damaging its engine room and leaving the vessel not under command, Reuters news agency reported. No casualties or environmental impact was reported.
Following this, the UKMTO said it had received a second report of an incident, 21 nautical miles northeast of Oman’s Khasab, wherein the master of a tanker reported seeing a large splash and an explosion in close proximity to the vessel. Both Lima and Khasab are located at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
📌Saudi ships reroute from Bab-el Mandeb
While the Strait of Hormuz traffic remains thin, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have announced a blockade in Bab-el Mandeb, another critical waterway, especially for Saudi Arabia.
Houthi rebels recently forced eight Saudi ships to reroute from the Bab el-Mandeb strait, according to AP. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a statement Friday that the vessels changed route to the Cape of Good Hope around Africa to avert the blockade.
