By Aldgra Fredly
The State Department has issued a “worldwide caution” for U.S. citizens living abroad in the wake of the escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict, following U.S. intervention targeting Iran’s nuclear sites.
In a June 22 alert, the department warned of potential demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests around the world. On June 21, U.S. forces launched airstrikes to neutralize threats from three Iranian nuclear facilities, which came amid the exchange of missiles between Israel and Iran.
“The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East,” the bulletin stated, calling on U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise “increased caution.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has warned of “everlasting consequences” in response to the U.S. strikes. Araqchi also implied that diplomacy between Iran and the United States is no longer on the table.
The United States and Iran had previously engaged in talks as President Donald Trump pushed for Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions but the parties failed to reach a deal, leading Israel to launch airstrikes against Iranian infrastructure on June 13.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s actions aimed to eliminate the existential threat posed by Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Iran retaliated by launching waves of ballistic missiles and explosive attack drones toward Israel, some of which breached Israel’s air defense network.
The United States began evacuating U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from Israel on June 21. U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said the State Department has arranged departure flights and issued instructions for citizens seeking departure assistance.
The U.S. Embassy in Israel has also advised its employees to shelter in place and near their residences until further notice. In a latest update, the embassy said it would resume limited in-person operations on June 23 to provide limited validity emergency U.S. passport service to those without a valid passport.
The embassy also said that it is aware of U.S. citizens departing Israel overland to Jordan and Egypt, as well as by sea to Cyprus, with assistance from third-party providers.
“While we are not able to endorse any providers, we know some have been able to successfully help U.S. citizens,” it stated.
During a televised address on June 21, Trump said the U.S. strikes “were a spectacular military success” and that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
Trump warned that Iran’s future holds “either peace or tragedy” depending on the regime’s next moves as he called for earnest negotiations for a deal, and that there are many other targets that could be hit by the U.S. military.
“If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill,” Trump said in his speech.
The International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution on June 12 declaring Iran noncompliant and in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization on Sunday condemned the U.S. strikes as a violation of international law, saying it would not allow the development of its “national industry”—referring to Iran’s nuclear development—to be stopped.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday it is irrelevant whether or not the Iranian leadership ordered weaponization of its nuclear material.
“They have everything they need to build nuclear weapons,” he said. “Why would you bury things in a mountain, 300 feet under the ground? Why do they have 60 percent enriched uranium? The only countries in the world that have uranium at 60 percent are countries that have nuclear weapons, because it can quickly make it 90. They have all the elements … a space program. They’re trying to build an ICBM so they can one day put a warhead on it.
“That’s all we need to see, especially in the hands of the regime that’s already involved in terrorism and proxies. … They are the source of all the instability in the Middle East.”
Rubio added that Trump had made the U.S. position clear from day one: that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. He said the president also made clear his preference is for diplomacy and gave Iran “60 days to make progress or something else was going to happen.”
“What happens next will now depend on what Iran chooses to do next,” he said. “If they choose the path of diplomacy, we’re ready. We can do a deal that’s good for them, the Iranian people, and good for the world. If they choose another route, then there will be consequences for that.”
Jack Phillips and Reuters contributed to this report.
