Thousands of Americans unable to leave Israel, Iran as conflict escalates

The U.S. State Department says more than 25,000 Americans have reached out to it for information in leaving Israel, the West Bank and Iran as the conflict escalates.

According to Associated Press department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Friday that those people had sought “information and support” and “seeking guidance” on departing. She would not give a breakdown of where the queries had come from.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has said it is working on possible evacuation flights and ships for Americans wanting to leave Israel.

However, with the exception of one government flight on Wednesday that took out a number of nonessential embassy staffers and family members, no such evacuations have been organized.

There are about 700,000 American citizens in Israel, the vast majority of whom are dual citizens who may not want to leave.

There are several thousand Americans believed to be in Iran, most of them also dual citizens.

While, Europeans’ meeting with Iranian foreign minister yields hope of more talks.

Britain’s foreign secretary said after several hours of talks Friday between top European diplomats and their Iranian counterparts that the Europeans are “keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the Europeans were clear in talks in Geneva that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon.” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that “very serious talks” were held Friday with Iran’s Abbas Araghchi.