Washington DC, March 3 -- The United States has issued an urgent advisory asking American citizens to "depart now" from over a dozen Middle Eastern countries due to "serious safety risks," as tensions escalated following coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes against the US allies in the Gulf.

Sharing a video message in a post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged its citizens to immediately depart from several Middle Eastern countries, citing "serious safety risks."

"To all American citizens in the Middle East: your safety and security is our number one priority. Sign up to receive STEP alerts at http://step.state.gov. Get information at @TravelGov and you can call the department 24/7 at +1-...