WASHINGTON — The State Department has doubled the number of emergency evacuation flights it is providing for American citizens wishing to leave Israel, ordered the departure of nonessential staff from the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon and is stepping up travel warnings around the Middle East because of concerns Iran will retaliate against U.S. interests in the region for the weekend strikes on its nuclear facilities.
In an alert sent to all Americans worldwide and posted to its website on Sunday, the State Department warned all U.S. citizens abroad to exercise caution.
''The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East,'' it said. ''There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.''
In a notice, also issued on Sunday, the department said it had ordered nonessential personnel and the families of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to leave Lebanon ''due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.''
The notice made no mention of any potential evacuation flights or other assistance for private Americans wanting to leave Lebanon but said those who want to should try to use existing commercial services to depart.
At the same time, the department issued warnings to U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia and Turkey to take extra security precautions given the uncertainty.
''Given reports of regional hostilities, the U.S. Mission to Saudi Arabia has advised its personnel to exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to any military installations in the region,'' the department said in its notice for Saudi Arabia.
In Turkey, the department said U.S. personnel ''have been cautioned to maintain a low profile and instructed to avoid personal travel to the U.S. Consulate Adana consular district,'' which includes the NATO airbase at Incirlik.