U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem Issues Travel Alert for Middle East

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a security alert on Thursday urging U.S. citizens to exercise increased caution while traveling in the Middle East. The embassy cited high tensions in the region. It said State Department Travel Advisories for Bahrain, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates remain at Level 3, which urges citizens to reconsider travel.

The advisory for Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and Yemen remains at Level 4, which cautions against traveling to these destinations. The embassy added that U.S. citizens should know the location of the nearest bomb shelter in the event of hostilities and monitor local media for further developments.

The U.S. has been engaged in prolonged negotiations with Iran in an attempt to end the war started on Feb. 28 in a joint military campaign together with Israel. Although sources on both sides have indicated at times that a memorandum of understanding is close to being achieved, no agreement has been reached in almost 60 days of talks.