By Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it was ramping up charter flights from the Middle East after criticism over the Trump administration's planning and initial assistance to U.S. citizens trying to leave the region since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began.
The strikes that began on Saturday and Iran's retaliatory attacks on its neighbors have led to widespread airspace closures, clogging busy aviation routes throughout the region and leaving thousands stranded.
Iran has fired missiles and drones toward U.S. diplomatic facilities in the region, leading several to be closed. On Thursday, the State Department announced the suspension of operations at the U.S. embassy in Kuwait, adding there had been no reported injuries to U.S. personnel.
The department, headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, announced on Wednesday the first U.S. government charter flight departed the region bound for the U.S., giving few details.
"At the direction of @SecRubio, Department of State charter flight and ground transportation operations are underway and will continue to ramp up with additional flights and ground transports taking place today," Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson said in a post on X on Thursday.
It was unclear from which countries charter flights would be departing.
American citizens in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Israel should fill out a crisis intake form to receive information about upcoming flights and ground transportation options, Johnson said, adding that a new task force has helped more than 10,000 Americans with guidance since the crisis began.
The State Department had only issued warnings to U.S. citizens in Israel and Lebanon as tensions rose, but Iran's response has targeted U.S. missions and civilian infrastructure in many more places, including in Gulf Arab nations that are major transport hubs.
U.S. security alerts for Americans in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar and Bahrain went out after the conflict began. The U.S. on Monday urged Americans across 14 countries in the Middle East to immediately depart the region using "available commercial transportation" without offering any U.S.-government-vouched means, drawing the ire of U.S. lawmakers.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)
