US Embassies Warn Americans in 10 Countries to Prepare to Evacuate as Iran Conflict Escalates

Americans across the Middle East are being urged to prepare to leave 10 countries as the conflict involving Iran intensifies, with President Trump warning that the US could strike back “very hard.”

The US Embassy issued urgent guidance advising American citizens in the region to “consider departing or be ready to depart if there is an escalation,” shortly after Trump suggested additional strikes on Iran could happen as early as this weekend.

The security warning now applies to 10 nations: the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and, in the latest update, Egypt.

“US Embassies across the Middle East have issued security alerts today advising travelers to exercise heightened vigilance and be prepared for flight cancellations and airspace closures,” the initial notice stated.

Less than an hour later, officials expanded the advisory, confirming that the US Embassy in Cairo had issued the same warning for Americans in Egypt.

The updated notice marked the first time Americans in Egypt were specifically told to “consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation,” aligning the country’s guidance with advisories already in place elsewhere in the Middle East.

“The situation in the Middle East remains fluid,” the alert said.

It added: “The Iranian regime is unpredictable, as seen by its recent decisions to attack areas in the region without warning or provocations as well as to expand attacks to areas not previously targeted (such as Egypt).”

It comes after sources told CBS News on Friday that the US and Israel are preparing what was described as ‘one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date’ against Iran’s energy infrastructure. 

While the president has not yet given the final green light, several insiders told the outlet that strikes could begin as soon as this weekend, with Israel already notified and coordinating with Washington.

‘The Department of War is locked and loaded, ready to execute the President’s directives at a moment’s notice,’ Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement, though refused to comment on intended targets.

Meanwhile, an Israeli official told the outlet: ‘Israel is unaware of any decision to restart full military operations, nor has Israel been asked to join any military action against Iran.’

A former US military official told CBS News that striking Iran’s energy infrastructure would aim to cripple the regime’s ability to support its military, provide services and maintain control. 

Trump signaled the threat of fresh strikes during a televised Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, declaring: ‘We will be hitting them very hard and, at some point, they’re going to say, “We just can’t take it anymore.”‘

Asked about the possibility of reviving diplomacy, the president told reporters: ‘I think we just want to win.’

His comments come as the US demands Tehran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and honor a truce agreement that was forged last month but quickly fell apart. 

After the Cabinet meeting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Tehran of violating a truce memorandum of understanding with the US, claiming it ‘broke it, shot at commercial ships and killed American soldiers.’

‘President Trump is not going to stand by and allow this terrorist behavior to occur,’ she said Friday evening. ‘Iran will continue to pay until they come to the table in, what President Trump deems, a meaningful way.’

In a separate statement to CBS News, Leavitt said: ‘As President Trump said at his cabinet meeting today, the United States will win, and Iran will not have a nuclear weapon under his watch.’

A joint operation would see Israel return to the battlefield after pausing its attacks under the US-brokered truce. Iran has not struck Israel since the agreement fell apart and Washington restarted combat operations in early July. 

A senior Iranian security official vowed Tehran has ‘the capacity and the will’ to retaliate against any US and Israeli strikes, claiming ‘extensive response plans’ are already prepared. 

The unnamed official told Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency that potential US-Israeli attacks would amount to a ‘form of recklessness’ on their part. 

The Iranian official claimed the ‘comprehensive’ plan includes strikes on ‘the vital infrastructure of the Zionist regime and US energy infrastructure in the region.’

‘We are fully prepared to carry it out,’ the official added. 

Early Saturday morning, Iran’s military accused the US of ‘escalating tensions’ in the Middle East and warned 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.

In comments carried by Iran’s IRIB broadcaster, Abdollahi said regional countries should understand that the US intends to use their wealth, infrastructure and resources ‘as a defensive shield for its weakened military.’

‘Any country serving as defensive shield for criminal and aggressive America will be engulfed by the flames of war,’ he added.

Iran launched drone attacks on Kuwait early Saturday, a Gulf nation that hosts US forces, and said it had struck oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz – the vital global energy route that has been largely shut down amid the fighting.

Kuwait’s military said it ‘intercepted and destroyed’ hostile drones that entered its airspace, hours after it activated air defenses over what it called ‘Iranian aggression.’ No casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli strikes left a huge crater at a hospital less than 48 hours after President Trump said Hamas and Israel had agreed to advance a ceasefire plan in what he called a potential breakthrough in peace efforts. 

Trump announced Thursday that Hamas had agreed to ‘completely disarm’ in exchange for an Israeli troop withdrawal. But an Israeli official told CNN that Israel would not pull back its forces until Hamas was disarmed first. 

Israel then launched another round of strikes in Gaza on Saturday, destroying two medical warehouses at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and damaging two others, according to the territory’s health ministry. 

In recent months, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital has become a crucial lifeline for displaced Palestinians and residents of central Gaza, serving as the only medical facility in the area capable of handling a large number of patients. 

‘When medicines are bombed, illness becomes a weapon of war,’ Dr Munir Al-Bursh, the ministry’s director general, said in a statement.

The attack, which came minutes after Israel’s army issued a forced displacement order, destroyed vital medical supplies, set dozens of nearby tents on fire and leveled a surrounding displacement camp. 

Footage showed people searching through the crater for medical supplies, including IV fluids, breathing tubes, surgical masks and cotton balls buried under the rubble.

‘Destroying a medical warehouse while Gaza’s health system is already suffering from a 51 percent shortage of essential medicine is a direct assault on one of the last remaining lifelines of healthcare,’ Dr Al-Bursh added.

The US has already struck bridges with both military and civilian uses during the conflict, a US official said, according to CBS.

Officials also weighed a potential move to cut electricity across Tehran on Friday, but stopped short of making a decision. 

Last week, Trump vowed on Truth Social to bomb and destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant for every attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.