Former State Dept. official calls Iran evacuation delay one of the worst failures he’s ever seen

Senator calls delayed warning a failure

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said on March 4 that the Trump administration showed no strategy or planning when it waited three days into the Iran war to tell Americans to leave the Middle East. By then, airspace across the region had already closed.

Kim told reporters it was one of the biggest failures of duty he had ever seen.

His office was fielding panicked calls from stranded Americans outraged at the lack of government help. He called on the administration to immediately build a plan to get citizens out.

Kim brings firsthand evacuation experience

Kim isn’t just any senator weighing in. He served at the State Department from 2009 to 2013, including as a civilian adviser to top generals in Afghanistan.

He also worked at the Pentagon and the White House National Security Council, where he advised President Obama on Iraq.

Kim won a House seat in 2018 and then a Senate seat in 2024, becoming the first Korean American senator. His criticism draws on years of handling exactly these kinds of crises.

Up to a million Americans may need help

Kim told reporters that as many as 1 million Americans could be in danger across the region. CBS News separately reported a similar figure, citing an unnamed source.

The number could grow if the conflict spreads, which administration officials have said is possible.

That’s a staggering number of people in a war zone with shrinking options to get out, and it helps explain the flood of calls overwhelming congressional offices.

Three days passed before a direct order

U.S. and Israeli forces launched joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, under Operation Epic Fury. That same day, the State Department put out a vague alert telling Americans overseas to follow embassy guidance.

It noted they might face travel problems. But a clear “depart now” order covering 14 countries didn’t come until March 2.

By then, wide stretches of regional airspace had already closed because of Iranian retaliatory strikes and safety concerns.

Airports shut down across the region

By the time the departure order went out, airports in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Syria, and Israel had already closed.

Major hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha were shut down or badly disrupted after Iranian retaliatory strikes hit those facilities. More than 11,000 flights to and from the region had stopped flying since Feb. 28.

Major U.S. airlines, including United and Delta, temporarily halted flights to some Middle East destinations.

Lawmakers noted evacuations came days after fighting started, compared to weeks of advance notice before the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Hotline told callers not to expect help

The State Department directed Americans to call a hotline for help with departure options.

When a news outlet called the number, an automated message said not to count on the U.S. government for evacuation and that no U.S. evacuation points existed.

Americans who reached a live person said they got no real travel help either.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem posted that it could not evacuate or directly assist Americans trying to leave Israel.

Stranded Americans described fear and chaos

One American stuck in Abu Dhabi said she heard bombings at the airport and ended up at a hotel where conditions got worse.

She said she was shocked to watch other countries fly their citizens out while Americans stayed behind. A U.S. businessman in the UAE said the State Department showed no urgency when he called.

A group from North Carolina on a religious trip to Jerusalem was sheltering in a hotel and going underground during retaliatory strikes.

Other nations moved faster to help

Australia arranged a commercial flight from Dubai to start bringing home about 24,000 Australians stranded in the UAE.

Australia’s foreign minister called it the largest consular crisis the country had ever faced by the numbers.

France deployed its aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean and sent fighter jets and air defense systems to the region.

Romanian pilgrims stranded in Israel flew to Bucharest, and Czech citizens caught government flights home. Meanwhile, Americans were still waiting.

Trump said strikes happened too fast to plan

When a reporter asked why thousands of Americans were stranded, President Trump said there was no evacuation plan because “it all happened very quickly.”

He said he believed the U.S. needed to strike first because Iran was preparing to attack Israel and other countries. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that airspace closures made evacuation flights difficult.

Rubio said planes were sometimes already in the air when closures forced them to turn back.

Officials said help was on the way

The State Department said it was arranging military aircraft and charter flights from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

Officials said the government had directly contacted about 3,000 Americans and that roughly 9,000 had already left the region. The department said it would waive any requirement for citizens to pay back travel costs.

Rubio urged Americans to register with the State Department’s traveler enrollment program so officials could reach them when options opened up.

Both parties expressed concern over the response

Republican lawmakers said they worried about stranded Americans but stopped short of blaming the administration publicly.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expected a stronger evacuation effort with significant air support.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who chairs the Armed Services Committee, noted the military fleet near Iran lacked an amphibious warship with Marines trained in civilian evacuations.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said the administration deliberately put American lives at risk and that his office phones were ringing nonstop.

Departure orders still cover 14 countries

As of this writing, the State Department continues to urge Americans in 14 Middle Eastern countries to leave immediately.

The State Department’s traveler enrollment program, known as STEP, lets Americans overseas receive security alerts and be contacted in emergencies.

Kim and other lawmakers said they will keep pressing for answers on how the evacuation unfolded. The conflict and its fallout remain ongoing.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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