As tensions in the Middle East reach alarming levels, the U.S. State Department on Sunday issued a “worldwide caution” advisory, warning American citizens of heightened security risks while traveling or residing abroad.The advisory follows intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran, and comes just hours after U.S. warplanes conducted overnight airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities — an operation Tehran has vowed to avenge. “The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in travel disruptions and intermittent airspace closures across the Middle East,” the State Department said. “There is potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution.”The statement notably omitted any direct reference to the U.S. military intervention, which Iranian officials have condemned as a provocative act with “irreparable consequences.”In a stark warning, Ali Akbar Velayati, senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared: “Any country in the region or elsewhere that allows American forces to use its territory to strike Iran will be deemed a legitimate target.”Iran’s military has also threatened U.S. bases across the Middle East in retaliation for the airstrikes, which the Pentagon claimed significantly degraded Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.Meanwhile, scenes of outrage unfolded in the United States itself. U.S. Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines were deployed to guard a protest outside the Westwood Federal Building in Los Angeles, where demonstrators condemned the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.Amid growing concerns for civilian safety, the U.S. has initiated evacuation flights from Israel, offering passage to American citizens and permanent residents living in Israel or the West Bank.Additionally, the State Department has ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel from its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Lebanon, citing elevated threats of violence in both countries.This global advisory underscores the unpredictable and potentially far-reaching consequences of the widening conflict — with the safety of American nationals now at the center of urgent diplomatic and military calculations.
