The State Department’s virtual embassy has issued an unmistakable, urgent security alert telling U.S. citizens in Iran to “leave Iran now” as nationwide unrest escalates and safety conditions collapse. This is not theater — the government is warning Americans to have a departure plan that does not depend on U.S. government assistance because our diplomatic presence in Tehran is essentially non-existent.
The advisory lays out the practical chaos: widespread internet outages, flight cancellations and travel disruptions, and recommendations that Americans who can should consider overland routes to Armenia or Türkiye to get out safely. It bluntly warns that U.S. nationals — especially dual nationals — face significant risk of questioning, arrest, and detention, and that showing ties to the United States can be used as an excuse to detain someone. The message is simple and stern: avoid demonstrations, keep a low profile, and don’t expect conventional consular support.
The Trump administration has signaled it will not respond to this crisis with hollow words, and has already been moving to impose economic pressure on Tehran — including announcing tough tariffs on countries that do business with the regime. That kind of hard-line posture is exactly what’s needed when you’ve got a rogue theocracy beating its own citizens and destabilizing the region. The American people want strength, and a president who will back the Iranian people’s yearning for freedom rather than appease their oppressors.
Intelligence and security channels have warned repeatedly that Iran treats U.S.-Iranian dual nationals as Iranian citizens and will not hesitate to use detentions as leverage. U.S. security notices and advisory groups have been explicit: leave now, or be prepared to shelter in place with limited communications and supplies if you cannot safely depart. That reality underscores the danger of trusting this brutal regime or relying on patchwork international aid in the middle of a fast-breaking crisis.
Hardworking Americans should applaud a government that finally speaks plainly and acts decisively to protect its citizens abroad. This is also a moment to stand with the brave Iranians risking everything on the streets to demand dignity and liberty — we should make clear that the United States supports their courage, not the clerical rulers who brutalize them. Cowardice and appeasement have no place here; moral clarity and tangible pressure are the conservative way forward.
Washington must back its warnings with follow-through: tighten economic chokeholds, cut off the regime’s revenue streams, and deny safe havens to those who finance terror. Airlines and borders are changing by the hour, so Americans abroad need real options and clear pathways out; the administration’s crisis intake efforts are a patch, but real safety comes from decisive policy that weakens the regime’s grip. The sooner we protect our people and squeeze the mullahs, the sooner Iranian patriots can reclaim their country.
To every American with friends or family in Iran: heed the warning, get out now if you can, and do not assume the U.S. can swoop in to rescue you. To the Biden-era appeasers and the naysayers who called a tough stance “provocative,” watch what happens when strength and principle meet a tyrant — the Iranian people may win their moment, and America will be safer for it. The administration did right by sounding the alarm; now it must finish the job and stand unapologetically with freedom.
