U.S. embassies across the Middle East have issued security advisories directing Americans to shelter in place following joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran. The advisories, released early February 28, 2026, come as explosions rock Tehran and Iranian retaliation targets regional U.S. bases.
Multiple large explosions rocked central Tehran on February 28, 2026, as the U.S. and Israel launched a sudden, preemptive military attack against Iran. As highlighted in TANTV’s coverage of the strikes, this unprecedented offensive immediately plunged the entire Middle East into a state of severe high alert. In rapid succession, the U.S. State Department issued urgent, cascading shelter-in-place directives for citizens and diplomatic personnel across Iran, Jordan, the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai), Qatar, and Bahrain, while localized warnings were implemented in Jeddah and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (Jeddah, Dhahran, with cautions elsewhere)., to brace against potential regional retaliation. Americans were told to secure residences, stock supplies, and avoid travel to military sites.
The immediate fallout from the strikes severely impacted daily operations and civilian movement within Israel and its surrounding territories. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem urgently ordered all government employees, as well as their family members located in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, to shelter in place until further notice. Concurrently, anticipating counterattacks, the Israeli government completely shut down its airspace to civilian air traffic, resulting in the immediate cancellation of all commercial flights departing from Ben Gurion Airport.
Washington has aggressively framed this sudden military intervention as a necessary measure for both American national security and Middle Eastern freedom. According to TANTV’s in-depth analysis of the conflict’s geopolitical motives, the administration is presenting the military offensive as a dual-purpose mission to defend the American people from imminent threats while liberating Iranians from an oppressive regime. President Trump’s openly urged Iranian citizens to capitalize on the chaos to rise up and take over their government and the IRGC members to defect, vowing regime threats would face “certain death.”
Despite the massive scale of this joint military operation, there remains a severe and startling disconnect between the U.S. government’s aggressive actions and domestic public sentiment. TANTV’s reporting “The U.S. News Media Is Sleepwalking the Public Into a War Against Iran,” points out that an overwhelming 85% of Americans actively oppose engaging in a war with Iran. The investigative piece heavily criticizes major corporate media outlets for their journalistic malpractice, noting they failed to question the “titanic” buildup of military assets in the Persian Gulf, which left everyday citizens largely unaware until the bombing began.
