‘Do not travel to Iran’: US State Department warns Americans of travel risks

WASHINGTON, DC: The US State Department has announced a new awareness campaign warning Americans, particularly Iranian Americans, about the severe risks of travelling to Iran. US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce asked Americans, particularly those with Iranian heritage, not to travel to Iran.

While addressing a press briefing on Thursday (local time), Bruce emphasised that the Iranian regime does not recognise dual nationality and denies consular access to detained US citizens. She announced that the US Department of State is launching a new website dedicated to warning Americans against travelling to Iran.

She said, “The department is announcing a new awareness campaign warning Americans, especially Iranian Americans, about the continuing severe risks of travel to Iran. The Iranian regime does not recognize dual nationality and routinely denies consular services to detained US citizens. And while the bombing has stopped, that does not mean that it is safe to travel to Iran, it is not. We are also launching a new website dedicated to warning Americans against travel to Iran. And there you have it (Pointing to the website displayed on the screen). You can get that website starting at state.gov…I think if you go to state.gov, you do a search, you will find that quite easily.”

“The message is clear as you can tell in multiple languages. Our travel advisories are there as well. They remain in place and we cannot stress enough as we continue to do as I have multiple times from this podium. Do not travel to Iran especially those of you who are the dual citizens who have Iranian heritage. It is not safe for anyone to travel to Iran. And again, this supplements also the existing travel advisories. It does not supplant them at travel.state.gov. Our message is clear, I think so,” she added.

The US State Department’s statement comes against the backdrop of recent tensions following the conflict between Israel and Iran and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and military installations.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump expressed cautious optimism about avoiding further military action against Iran, noting that Tehran also doesn’t want such action against it. He further stated that Iran wants to meet and work “something out” between the two nations to cease any future military actions.

“I hope we’re not going to have to do that. I can’t imagine wanting to do that. I can’t imagine them wanting to do that. They (Iran) want to meet … They want to work something out. They are very different now than they were two weeks ago,” Trump said during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday (local time).

When asked if there would be any talks scheduled with Iran, Trump nodded, noting that the US had plans to hold dialogue with Tehran. “We’re going to have a meeting…We’ll see what happens. We have scheduled Iran talks. They want to talk. They took a big drubbing, I think, when we hit the three sites,” Trump added.

Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had expressed confidence that Tehran could settle its disputes with the US through dialogue, while acknowledging that building trust would be difficult due to past US and Israeli attacks on Iran, as reported by Al Jazeera.

The conflict began on June 13 when Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion”, conducting widespread airstrikes on Iranian soil targeting nuclear sites at Natanz and Fordow, missile production centres, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command bases.

Several top IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists were reportedly assassinated during the operation. This was followed by US strikes under “Operation Midnight Hammer” on June 22, which also targeted Iranian nuclear infrastructure.

Iran then retaliated with missile attacks against Israel and an assault on a US military airbase in Qatar. Iran strongly condemned both operations, calling them a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter. (ANI)