Hundreds of Americans have fled Iran and others face difficulties leaving

CNN
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Hundreds of Americans have fled Iran as the conflict with Israel has escalated, an internal State Department report said.

The detail in the Friday situation report underscores that US citizens in Iran are at risk as President Donald Trump weighs US military action.

The exact number of Americans in Iran is not known, and the State Department does not require US citizens to register their presence abroad.

Unlike in Israel, where the US is working to establish transportation options out of the country for the estimated hundreds of thousands of Americans there, no such options are available for US citizens in Iran. The US does not have a diplomatic presence there.

“We do not anticipate offering direct US government assisted departure from Iran,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce noted at a press briefing Friday.

The situation report described some Americans facing difficulties leaving Iran.

“Security alerts also note Americans seeking to depart should be prepared to encounter checkpoints and questioning from authorities,” it states. “Numerous US citizens have described delays and harassment along their exit route.“

It also notes that two Americans were reportedly detained while attempting to depart the country.

One source trying to get a US citizen family member out of Iran expressed frustration at the State Department earlier this week, saying the agency seemed to defer everything to seemingly overwhelmed US embassies. This person wanted to see the department apply more pressure to Iran’s neighboring countries to approve Americans’ entrance. They also suggested dispatching embassy officials closer to the Iranian border to help.

More than 25,000 people have sought information from the State Department about the “situation in Israel, the West Bank and Iran,” Bruce said Friday.

Bruce said that the people were seeking “general information,” and some of them might be inquiring about departure.

The department has launched a “crisis intake form” for Americans in Israel and Iran wanting to know how to get out of those countries as the conflict continues.

“Americans seeking departure should take advantage of existing means to leave,” Bruce noted at the press briefing.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Thursday that the US is “working to get military, commercial, charter flights & cruise ships” for evacuation from Israel.

Trump on Thursday opened a two-week negotiating window before deciding whether to strike Iran, setting off an urgent effort to restart talks that had been deadlocked…