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Iran Conflict Leads to U.S. Embassy Closures Across Several Nations

As of March 3, American embassies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paused operations after missile strikes in the area.

Written By:Caryl Espinoza Jaen

Reviewed By:Nicole Gunara

Updated:

Iran Conflict Leads to U.S. Embassy Closures Across Several Nations

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March 23, 2026 - UPDATE: The U.S. embassy in Muscat has resumed limited immigrant and emergency nonimmigrant visa services. All other locations remain closed or have paused consular processing for foreign nationals.

The U.S. Department of State has closed several embassies and consular offices in and around the Middle East, following a joint Israel-U.S. military campaign in Iran that has since escalated into a broader regional conflict.

As of March 4, these are the embassies and consular officers that have currently paused operations due to ongoing threats in the region:

  • Abu Dhabi
  • Adana
  • Amman
  • Baghdad
  • Beirut
  • Dhahran
  • Doha
  • Dubai
  • Erbil
  • Islamabad
  • Jeddah
  • Jerusalem
  • Karachi
  • Kuwait City
  • Lahore
  • Manama
  • Muscat
  • Nicosia
  • Peshawar
  • Riyadh
  • Tel Aviv

This is a developing story. We’ll continue to update this list as more information gets released.

How embassy closures may impact foreign nationals in the Middle East and surrounding areas

In the past, the State Department has released guidance on “backup” U.S. consulates for residents who cannot attend their respective embassies because of conflict in their home country. For example, in 2021, the federal agency instructed Russian visa applicants to seek consular processing in Warsaw due to embassy closures in Russia.

For those impacted by the latest Middle East embassy and consular closures, government officials have yet released instructions on whether foreign nationals should seek visa services in another country. In addition, several consular posts have stated that residents in the area should seek shelter and stay in place until further notice.

About the Author

Caryl Espinoza Jaen

Caryl Espinoza Jaen is a Nicaraguan-born staff writer for Manifest Law. As a writer, he strives to cover complex topics like immigration policy with clarity, accuracy, and precision.

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Reviewed By

Nicole Gunara
Nicole Gunara

Princ. Immigration Attorney

Nicole is the founding legal architect and an immigration attorney with extensive experience across extraordinary ability, employment-based, and investment visas. As the founding legal architect, Nicole helped shape the engine of Manifest Law to serve our clients as effectively and strategically as possible.

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