US Adds UAE to Evacuation List as Airstrike Kills 13 Iranian Troops and Israel Expands Lebanon Operations
The United States has expanded its evacuation of non-emergency diplomatic personnel and family members in the Middle East to six countries on Tuesday, adding the United Arab Emirates to a growing list that already includes Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar, as the Iran war intensifies across the Gulf and beyond.
The U.S. State Department’s decision brings the UAE—home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi and long regarded as one of the region’s safest commercial hubs—into the formal evacuation framework amid escalating security concerns.
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| Fuel tank at Oman's Duqm port hit by several drones, according to state media; Via: Ragip Soylu |
The move comes as the conflict spreads geographically and operationally. In southeastern Iran, airstrikes on the Kerman Air Base killed at least 13 troops, according to local media reports including the semiofficial Tasnim news agency and the Hammihan daily.
The base, located about 800 kilometers from Tehran, is known to house military helicopters. The strike marks another expansion of aerial operations deeper into Iranian territory.
Elsewhere Tuesday, a missile and drone struck the Azadi camp in Irbil in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan region, slightly injuring one person, according to a senior official with the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran.
The camp houses Iranian Kurdish opposition members, underscoring how the conflict is intersecting with longstanding regional fault lines.
Maritime infrastructure has also been targeted. Oman said a drone hit a fuel tank at its port in Duqm, though no injuries were reported. Duqm has served as a key resupply route for the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier operating in the Arabian Sea, placing it within the broader strategic theater of the war.
On Israel’s northern front, the Israeli military confirmed that one of its divisions is operating inside southern Lebanon and has taken positions at several strategic points near the border. The move, officials said, is intended to strengthen forward defenses and create an additional layer of security.
At the same time, the Israeli air force has continued strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs to prevent infiltration attempts and counter missile launches. Despite the widening operational scope, Israeli officials said there are no immediate plans to deploy ground troops in Iran, calling such a move unlikely at this stage.
The inclusion of the UAE in the U.S. evacuation list reflects how the conflict has engulfed states previously considered insulated from direct confrontation. The Emirates have faced missile and drone interceptions in recent days, and U.S. officials have signaled heightened risk to diplomatic and civilian facilities.
The cumulative effect of these developments signals a multi-front war with overlapping theaters: direct U.S.-Israeli airstrikes inside Iran; retaliatory attacks affecting Gulf states; cross-border operations involving Hezbollah in Lebanon; and incidents touching Iraqi Kurdistan and maritime infrastructure in Oman.
What began as a concentrated military campaign has evolved into a regional conflict marked by diplomatic withdrawals, airbase strikes, attacks on opposition camps and threats to strategic ports.
The expansion of evacuation orders to six Middle Eastern nations underscores the degree to which embassies and civilian populations are now part of the security calculus.
As air operations continue over Iran and Lebanon, and as Gulf states harden security around diplomatic missions and commercial hubs, the war’s trajectory points toward sustained instability rather than rapid containment.
The widening geography, from Kerman to Irbil, Duqm to southern Lebanon, suggests that escalation is unfolding horizontally across the region even as major powers signal caution about deeper ground engagement.