Skip to main content
LBC logo
On Air Now
Listen Now

4am to 7am

Listen Now

6am to 10am

US embassy issues security alert warning over 'potential for unforeseen escalation' in Middle East

The alert warned US citizens to stay vigilant and keep an eye out for potential airspace closures which may result in flight disruptions or cancellations.

Share

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-US-DIPLOMACY
An alert was issued by the US Embassy in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Picture: Getty

By Georgia Bell

The US Embassy in Jerusalem has issued a security warning for US citizens in the region due to the “potential for unforeseen escalation”.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The alert, issued by the embassy on Tuesday, warned US citizens to stay vigilant and keep an eye out for potential airspace closures which may result in flight disruptions or cancellations.

Anyone intending to travel in or out of the Middle East has been advised to monitor airline updates.

In a statement, the embassy wrote: “Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world.”

The warning was released just before US Central Command revealed that it had begun its second wave of strikes against Iran in the past week - prompting Tehran to launch a wave of attacks in retaliation.

Read more: Trump says Tehran is 'playing out the inevitable' as US and Iran exchange further strikes

Read more: Russia is in solidarity with Tehran, Putin tells Iranian President

Iran has targeted US assets in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, with US Marine Corps base Camp Titin in Jordan facing an 'intense ballistic missile attack,' according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

The Iranian Red Crescent said five people, including a child, were killed and more than 50 injured when shrapnel from a US missile attack hit a home where a wedding celebration was taking place in Sirik in southern Iran.

The US military said it was aware of the reports but that it never targeted civilians.

Posting on Truth Social overnight, the Donald Trump said he "couldn't care less if they sign a worthless...agreement.

Rubble lies around damaged houses following a reported attack near a wedding gathering in Kuhistik, Sirik, Iran
Rubble lies around damaged houses following a reported attack near a wedding gathering in Kuhistik, Sirik, Iran. Picture: Iranian Red Crescent Society/Handout via REUTERS

"I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing," he said.

"They are just playing out the inevitable."

The US said it struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets as the Iran war escalated again following a weekend exchange of fire.

US forces struck IRGC targets "including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites," the US Central Command said on X.

The US is understood to have targeted two Iranian government tankers in Tuesday's strikes.

The strikes followed exchanges of fire over the weekend, the first attacks since late July, and attacks on Monday on two tankers leaving the Strait of Hormuz.

"I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing," Donald Trump said on Truth social
"I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing," Donald Trump said on Truth social. Picture: Reuters

Five people were killed and 50 wounded at a wedding near Sirik, a coastal area on the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Red Crescent reported. ​The Mehr news agency said a 4-year-old child was among those killed, while the IRNA news agency, citing a provincial official, put the number of wounded at ⁠68.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, saying it marked the highest level of crude oil to pass through the waterway since the war had reduced flows.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was "not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table."

"When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?" Trump wrote on social media.