US urges all Americans to leave countries ahead of strikes

The US State Department has urged Americans to evacuate 15 countries in the Middle East immediately.

Anyone who needs State Department assistance arranging departure flights are also urged to call the State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad) and +1-888-407-4747 (from the US and Canada).

Vacationers were also told to enroll in http://step.state.gov to get the latest security updates from the nearest US embassy or consulate.

The US is preparing for a ‘major uptick’ in attacks on Iran over the next 24 hours, according to CNN anchor Jim Sciutto.

A senior official with knowledge of the Trump administration’s plans said the military has assessed that its first round of attacks have successfully weakened Iranian defenses.

The next phase will focus on destroying the country’s missile production, drones and naval capabilities, the official said.

The news comes hours after President Donald Trump told CNN: ‘We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon.’

Residents in Dubai received an alert Monday evening urging them to seek shelter and stay away from windows, doors or open areas due to ‘potential missile threats.’

A major airbase in the Middle East where dozens of Australian Defence Force personnel are stationed has been reportedly hit by Iranian missile strikes.

An American tourist described her terror evacuating the Middle East as Iran launched attacks against Israel in retaliation for the US-backed killing of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the weekend.

Quentin Tarantino has not been killed in a missile attack in Israel despite social media rumors amid strikes in Iran.

The Daily Mail reached out to a representative for the 62-year-old Oscar-winning director, who denied viral posts on X (formerly Twitter) which claimed the filmmaker had perished via ‘an Iranian missile in Tel Aviv.’

Britons stranded in the Middle East and Cyprus have been left terrified after airports were evacuated and flights cancelled amid fears of drone attacks.

Iran’s retaliation following the launch of Operation Epic Fury has plunged the Gulf region and beyond into chaos and left thousands of holidaymakers trapped.

The pilot of an F-15 fighter jet shot down over Kuwait was thanked by locals after managing to safely eject from the plane before it plummeted to the ground.

Footage on social media showed the unnamed female pilot beaming ear-to-ear despite being shot out of the sky moments before in a friendly fire mishap.

‘You need something to help you?’, the man recording could be heard asking the pilot as he approached her.

‘No problem, you are safe, you are safe. Everything good? Thank you for helping us,’ the man continued.

The pilot was aboard one of three US jets that were mistakenly shot down over the Middle Eastern country on Monday.

Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday that the world would be ‘an entirely different place’ if he hadn’t axed Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal.

‘If I didn’t terminate Obama’s horrendous Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), Iran would have had a Nuclear Weapon three years ago,’ he wrote.

‘That was the most dangerous transaction we have ever entered into, and had it been allowed to stand, the World would be an entirely different place right now. You can blame Barack Hussein Obama, and Sleepy Joe Biden.’

First Lady Melania Trump broke her silence about the US military action in Iran without actually mentioning the country by talking about the service members who have lost their lives in the conflict thus far.

‘Their bravery and dedication will always be remembered’, Melania noted on Monday as she made history as the first-ever presidential spouse to chair a meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The Israeli Air Force announced it has launched strikes against Iran.

‘The IDF has begun a wave of strikes against the Iranian terror regime in Tehran,’ the air force wrote on X.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday that regime change is not the object of the military operation in Iran.

‘We would love for there to be an Iran that’s not governed by radical Shia clerics,’ he said. ‘That’s not the objective.’

‘The objectives of this operation are to destroy their ballistic missile capability and make sure they can’t rebuild it, and make sure that they can’t hide behind that to have a nuclear program. That’s the objective of the mission.’