The U.S. State Department on Sunday issued a security alert warning U.S. citizens worldwide, including tourists and Americans living abroad, to “exercise increased caution,” citing the conflict in the Middle East.
“The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East,” the alert stated, also noting the possibility of “demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad.”
The security alert issued Sunday did not mention the United States’ strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend. The impacts of those strikes are already being felt on a broader scale, as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and reportedly Bahrain closed airspace following Monday’s retaliatory missile strikes from Iran on a U.S. military base in Qatar, several media outlets reported.
While worldwide cautions are relatively rare, Sunday’s alert marks the third time in less than two years that the State Department has issued one. In May 2024, the department warned of potential threats to LGBTQ+ travelers, and in October 2023, it issued a worldwide caution alert for Americans amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Ross Thompson, founder of Covac Global, a membership-based firm specializing in repatriation and medical evacuation, told Afar via email that “the U.S. advisory does not automatically trigger departure or evacuation orders but could be a good indicator that one may be coming.”
As Thompson explained, travel advisories and security alerts such as the one issued Sunday “are based on a number of intelligence sources, with the most weighted being the local U.S. embassy staff—more specifically, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security,” as well as other government authorities and agencies.
“Those entities’ constant contact and relationship with local law enforcement and in-country counterparts paint a picture of the overall security environment for U.S. citizens, or what those in the sector call AMCITs,” Thompson said, referring to American citizens.
Security experts offer advice for travelers
The State Department’s security alert, along with immediate changes to flight routes following the recent strikes, point to a bigger picture of uncertainty in and around the Middle East, perhaps leaving some travelers questioning how to proceed with upcoming travel plans.
According to several security experts who spoke with Afar, Sunday’s worldwide caution alert doesn’t necessarily mean travelers should cancel their upcoming trip abroad. Instead, they should carefully evaluate potential risks in their destination and take certain precautions to make their trip as safe as possible.
Gene Petrino, co-owner of Survival Response LLC, a Florida-based security consulting firm, recommends U.S. travelers stay up to date with government travel warnings and advisories and enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, a free service that sends email alerts from the U.S. embassy ahead of time. While in their destination, it’s paramount that travelers maintain keen “situational awareness,” said Petrino, a retired commander of a SWAT law enforcement unit. He also advises travelers to “keep your phone out of your hand” to avoid being distracted (or the phone being stolen) and identify two or three escape routes from their current location, such as exits from a hotel, whenever possible.
“Everyone takes time to look at where they want to visit and all the sites they want to see, but they should also take a look at What do we need to avoid? And how do we mitigate any safety issues that might pop up along the way?” Petrino said.
Thompson, meanwhile, suggests travelers read the fine print on their travel insurance policy, especially if they are headed to a destination where evacuation services may be needed. “If travelers are concerned about being able to evacuate or exfiltrate a certain country for medical or security reasons, they need to understand that certain medical evacuation insurance or memberships” will not cover destinations with a travel advisory higher than a Level 2, he said. State Department travel advisories range from Level 1, or “exercise normal precautions,” to Level 4, which signals “do not travel” to the destination.
That said, for Thompson, who has lived and worked in several Level 4 countries around the world, there are two main reasons that a traveler should cancel a trip. “First, if the risk level suddenly jumps from a 1 to a 3—they know something you don’t,” he explains. “Secondly, if you’re reading the paper or watching the news, and that little voice in your head says, ‘Don’t go’ or ‘Go somewhere else,’ listen to that little voice. It could save your life.”
