Nearly 20,000 Americans Have Safely Returned Home From the Middle East: State Department

Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha, Qatar, on March 1, 2026. Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty ImagesNearly 20,000 U.S. citizens have returned safely from the Middle East since Feb. 28, when the Iran conflict broke out, Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary at the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, said in a March 5 statement.“These figures do not include the many Americans who have safely relocated to other countries or those who have departed the Middle East but are still in transit back to the United States,” Johnson said. “At the direction of Secretary [Marco] Rubio, Department of State charter flight and ground transportation operations are underway and will continue to ramp up with additional flights and ground transports taking place today.”