Exclusive By: Kanwal Abidi.
Washington D.C. After the U.S. – Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February 2026, the US lawmakers criticized the
State Department for exhibiting poor planning and incompetence, for failing to warn Americans’ ahead, to leave the region. However, the State department said after four days of the onset of war, that they had started facilitating charter flights from a number of countries in the Middle East for the U.S. Citizens who are stranded.
Now, across the Middle East, the Diplomatic Security Staff (DSS) agents are ensuring State Department charter flight operations remain safe and secure for American citizens. On X, they stated that “the safety and security of Americans is – and always will be – our highest priority”.
Earlier, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Affairs Dylan Johnson has explicitly said his office is actively assisting any American citizen who wishes to depart the Middle East and can call the U.S. State Department, 24/7 Task Force at +1-202-501-4444 In a statement issued by the State Department on X, it said that the commercial flights are available across the region – “charter flights and ground operations will scale down as seats available on the charter options are significantly greater than the demand from Americans in the region”.
Further, under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Rubio, the Department of State has completed over two dozen charter flights and has safely evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East. Recently, the Department also announced that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their family members from the U.S. Embassies in Bahrain, Qatar, The UAE, Kuwait and Jordan.
On March 11, the Department of State contacted nearly 9,000 American citizens in the United Arab Emirates to offer U.S. Government charter flights. Despite those efforts, the flights continued to depart the UAE with available seats due to a lack of demand.
Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson said on X that around 43000 American citizens have safely returned to the United States from the Middle East, since 28 February. He said that the State Department’s 24/7 Task Force has directly assisted over 30,000 Americans abroad, offering security guidance and travel assistance.
Despite having made these options available to every American who has requested travel assistance, State Department charter flights are continuing to operate with less than 40% occupancy on average.
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Further, Dylan Johnson clarified in a statement released by the State Department that though the seats are available on the Department’s charter options – most Americans declined assistance when offered and opted to either remain in the country where they are or book more convenient commercial flights which might be available to them.
