WASHINGTON – When Iranian missiles began striking targets across the United Arab Emirates last Saturday, State Department officials found themselves rushing to complete critical paperwork – securing authorization for at least three American embassies to remove non-essential staff.
Documents requesting State Department leadership approval for evacuations at U.S. diplomatic missions in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar – all already under attack from Tehran on Saturday – weren’t submitted for clearance and authorized until hours after America and Israel began military operations against Iran, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. In some instances, approvals didn’t come until the next day, according to two knowledgeable sources and six internal State Department communications reviewed by Reuters.
Public notifications that America was beginning to withdraw non-essential personnel from Gulf Arab nations started Monday, three days after hostilities commenced. The U.S. embassy in Riyadh received authorized departure approval on Tuesday, four full days into the conflict and the same day Iranian drones struck the facility, causing a fire that damaged embassy property.
This timeline represents an uncommon delay. Usually, America initiates evacuations for planned military actions well ahead of operations beginning.
During America’s 2003 Iraq invasion, regional staff and U.S. citizens had weeks to prepare, with at least two evacuations starting more than a week before combat operations launched. Prior to last week’s strikes, only Israel and Lebanon had received orders for non-essential personnel departures.
The Iranian operation – America’s largest Middle East military action since 2003 – has created enormous pressure on U.S. officials and other nations with citizens in the region. However, lawmakers, former diplomats and process sources indicated America was unusually delayed in implementing contingency measures for both personnel and thousands of stranded Americans.
State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said hundreds of people participated in efforts to help Americans return home.
“We are working 24/7 and have contingency plans ready to go and implement when needed, including the ability to immediately activate the task force, which was done here,” Pigott told Reuters in a statement.
SOCIAL MEDIA NOTIFICATIONS
Sources familiar with the situation said one factor behind the inconsistent approach was Trump administration officials limiting contingency planning to a small group before the war began.
In one instance, officials helping Americans return home learned from a senior Trump official’s social media post that Washington was now providing charter flights to U.S. citizens, according to two people aware of the situation.
“No directive came from anywhere,” one person said.
Pigott stated that announcements regarding the Department’s crisis-specific task force and charter flights were coordinated with appropriate officials.
In another case, the alert for Americans to leave the region didn’t come through standard State Department procedures but again through social media.
Top State Department consular affairs official Mora Namdar posted on X Monday, encouraging Americans across 14 Middle Eastern countries to depart and announcing the U.S. was working to arrange charter flights for citizens.
However, because this message was created outside normal procedures, State Department staff were caught off guard and had to revise the department’s official travel advisory system that American businesses and others depend on for overseas personnel guidance, according to two people familiar with the circumstances.
As of Saturday, the U.S. State Department reported completing “over a dozen charter flights and has safely evacuated thousands of Americans” from the Middle East. It didn’t specify exact departure locations for charter flights.
One flight leaving Dubai for Washington on Friday carried 182 embassy personnel and family members, plus 51 private U.S. citizens, representing only the second charter departure from that country, according to a March 6 communication reviewed by Reuters. Additional flights were scheduled afterward.
When asked to verify if specific plans were completed before the war to help evacuate American citizens from the 14 countries, a State Department official briefing reporters earlier this week provided a general response.
“I wouldn’t say that specifically. What I would say is, we always have contingency plans, and we’re always ready to assist Americans. That’s what I would say to that question,” the official said, speaking anonymously.
The Department said Friday it had helped 13,000 Americans who contacted them seeking departure assistance.
As the Department hurried to execute plans helping Americans, novelist and filmmaker Mohana Rajakumar in Doha called the hotline that senior U.S. officials said stranded citizens should use for help. The recorded message told her not to depend on government assistance for departure, even as the U.S. government repeatedly states that American citizen safety and security worldwide is its highest priority.
“I can tell you every WhatsApp group that I’m in with Americans, nobody feels that way,” Rajakumar told Reuters from Doha. “Everyone is asking why didn’t they tell us to leave given they knew they were going to do this? Why didn’t we have the option to leave?”
Officials said the recorded message was subsequently updated.
