The US State Department has cautioned Americans overseas that air travel could be disrupted, including possible flight cancellations, as tensions with Iran intensify.
In a Saturday advisory, US citizens worldwide — and particularly those in the Middle East — were urged to remain highly vigilant and follow instructions from the nearest US embassy after President Donald Trump ordered a new round of airstrikes on Tehran.
‘Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation,’ the State Department alert read.
‘We remind Americans in the region of the continued need for caution and encourage them to monitor the news for breaking developments.’
Officials warned that travelers could face ‘flight cancellations’ as well as ‘periodic airspace closures’ in the coming days and weeks.
The advisory also noted that US diplomatic sites and other American interests abroad have previously been targeted and may face further threats from Iran and groups aligned with it.
On Saturday, the US military launched another wave of airstrikes against Iran, saying the operation was intended to ‘swiftly punish’ the country’s Revolutionary Guard over an attack in Jordan that killed two American service members, left one missing and sent four others to the hospital.
US Central Command said the strikes, which began at 6pm EST on Saturday, were part of an effort to ‘punish’ Tehran.
The US State Department has warned Americans worldwide that flights may be canceled amid escalating tensions with Iran. Pictured: A US strike from an American Navy cruiser launched on Friday
US Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes hit ‘surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities’
‘The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night,’ CENTCOM said in a statement.
The strikes came after Iranian strikes hit the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Friday. In addition to the two fatalities, one service member is missing in action, and four others were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals in the attack. The troops have since been discharged, CENTCOM added.
Americans around the globe, especially in the Middle East, were advised on Saturday to exercise increased caution and follow the guidance of their nearest US embassy after President Donald Trump launched a fresh wave of airstrikes on Tehran
‘Out of respect for the families, CENTCOM will withhold additional information, including the identities of the fallen warriors, until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified,’ the agency said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also honored the troops on X, writing: ‘Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.’
The deaths were the 15th and 16th among US servicemembers since the war with Iran began in February, with more than 430 others wounded.
After news broke of the deaths, Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, called the US’s actions in the region ‘criminal,’ referring to the country as the ‘Great Satan.’
Minutes before the US announced the troop deaths on Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader warned of ‘unforgettable lessons’ if America kept attacking the Islamic Republic.
The remarks read out on state TV and attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, still unseen since the war began, also called Trump’s signature ‘worthless and invalid.’
People stand on a bridge destroyed after a strike in Hormozgan province, southern Iran, on Saturday, July 18, 2026
Vehicles wait in traffic near a heavily-damaged bridge that was hit by a US strike along the road connecting Roudan and Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Saturday
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An Iranian negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal signed about a month ago and aimed at permanently ending the fighting.
Tehran’s declarations snapped another fragile thread as the war shows no end in sight.
Now Khamenei warns of ‘lessons’ not only from Iran but also its armed proxies in the region, calling them the ‘Axis of Resistance.’
The battle has focused on control of the Strait of Hormuz. The widening strikes now threaten civilians and infrastructure, including desalination plants for drinking water, while the global economy again is on alert.
The US has violated its commitments under the deal and now Iran is ‘no longer implementing them,’ Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told state TV.
There was no new word on mediation efforts.
On Saturday, the most significant damage from Iranian strikes occurred in Kuwait, where a water desalination plant and an oil facility were hit, according to the Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both declined to provide locations.
It was the second attack against a desalination plant in two days in the tiny desert nation that depends on desalination for 90 percent of its drinking water.
Shortly before Friday’s attack on Jordan, Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that the US strikes on Iran would lead to ‘unforgettable lessons’ for the US, accusing President Trump of ‘seeking to escalate the conflict’
Lebanese army soldiers inspect the site of an explosion that targeted their vehicle in the southern Lebanese area of al Mansouri near Tyre on Saturday
The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline.
Several firefighters and a worker were injured while battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes, according to the Kuwait Fire Force.
Kuwait briefly closed its airspace due to missile threats, and Kuwait Airways said it was rescheduling most flights to and from the capital.
Meanwhile, Iraq said it shot down attack drones over the city of Irbil. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the kingdom’s air defense systems had downed Iranian missiles, while air sirens sounded multiple times in Bahrain throughout the day and in Saudi Arabia in the morning, according to their governments.
The secretary general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, accused Iran of war crimes for strikes on infrastructure and civilian facilities.
US Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes hit ‘surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities.’
US airstrikes hit an electricity and desalination plant in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, Iranian state TV reported.
Iranian state-run news agency IRNA said the Bonji desalination plant was destroyed, cutting off water supplies to about 10,000 people, and a desalination plant on strategic Qeshm Island inside the strait was damaged.
Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said President Trump’s signature is now ‘worthless and invalid,’ after a tentative ceasefire agreement reached in April – and formally agreed upon last month – dramatically fell apart in recent days
Overnight strikes damaged two tunnels and a bridge, disrupting a main highway toward Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port that sits near the narrowest part of the strait, according to IRNA. It said three bridges were hit Saturday, including one on a route to Bandar Abbas.
Iran acknowledged ‘attacks on power infrastructure’ during the US airstrikes for the first time Friday when its Energy Ministry urged people to use less power in southern provinces ‘experiencing extreme heat.’ It did not specify what was hit.
Iranian authorities said at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 wounded in US strikes in the past three weeks, including eight killed in a strike on a bridge Friday.
Iran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic after the war started with US and Israeli strikes on February 28. That has given Tehran significant leverage in negotiations.
