US citizens in the Middle East face 'mayhem' trying to get home

Americans travelling in the Middle East say it has been "mayhem" trying to get back home as the US-Israel war with Iran is felt throughout the region.

The US is advising its citizens in 14 countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel and Qatar, to "depart now" as security warnings put embassies on lock down. Canada has also urged its citizen to leave.

But some tourists report that there are no flights and no clear instructions to exit.

The US state department said it was securing military and charter planes to pick up American citizens who want to leave the Middle East. For now, though, many travellers say they are being forced to wait or find their own way out.

An advisory posted on Monday urges Americans to "depart now via commercial means" from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

But leaving by commercial airline has proved tough for many travellers.

Florida resident Krista Jucknath Hickman said she and her husband Mike's holiday turned to "chaos" when they became stranded at Dubai airport.

"The number provided by the state department for support is unable to help," she said. "I called twice."

She added: "All that can be done is book flights that don't take off."

The couple eventually managed to book a driver for $1,000 to take them across the border into Oman.

State department spokesperson Dylan Johnson said the government was currently in contact with 3,000 travellers.

Some 9,000 Americans have already successfully returned to the US from the region over the last few days, according to the department.

The statement said that charter flights would soon be available to evacuate Americans from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

On his social media site on Tuesday, President Donald Trump encouraged Americans trying to get home to register online with the state department.

"We are already chartering flights, free of charge, and booking commercial options, which we expect will become increasingly available as time goes on," he said.

Another US citizen, former Army Major General Randy Manner, said he was still trying to make it out of the airport in Dubai, which he described as "mayhem".

"We started to load the aircraft then we were all taken back to the terminal," he said. "They also said that if we fly out at all, we would be the last plane out tonight."

Between 500,000 and one million US nationals are estimated to be living in the Middle East.

Texas resident Harsheet Kummaraguntla said his mother was on a flight from Doha, Qatar, to Dallas when the US and Israel first struck Iran. The flight ended up turning back and landing in Doha again.

"She does not live there, Doha was just a layover. She is unfortunately trapped currently due to the airspace closure in Doha," Kummaraguntla said.

Greg Arnold, 33, from Buffalo, New York, is a consultant living in Riyadh with his wife and son. His parents had been visiting from the US, and arrived three weeks before the war began.

He described how difficult it was to book them flights home online.

"The price kept going up and up," he said. "So if you had a payment failure, you check again and it would raise, you know, another $300 to $500."

He was eventually able to secure tickets through his company.

Canada has also urged its citizens to avoid travel to in the region, and estimates more than 85,000 are registered across the various countries.

On Tuesday, Canada's foreign minister, Anita Anand, said Ottawa had asked Oman for access to its airspace if needed to help evacuate its citizens.

Nathan Devereaux, of Brantford, Ontario, has worked at an NGO in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut for the past year and a half.

Israel's military has been striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, after the Iranian-backed Shia group said it launched rockets and drones at the Israeli city of Haifa to avenge the US killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Devereaux, 24, said the entire country could quickly be engulfed in violence.

He and his girlfriend have a flight booked out of Lebanon in a few days. He has been agonising over whether he should leave altogether.

"Where the hell would I go?" he said. "Would I go all the way back to Canada, which is going to cost me a ton of money? And you know, when am I going to come back?"

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