France warns against travel to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and Palestinian territories

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - France issued a travel advisory on Friday warning its citizens not to travel to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories, against the backdrop of rising concerns regarding the threat of an Iranian retaliatory attack against Israel.

In a post on X on Friday, France’s foreign ministry stated that “In view of risks of a military escalation in the Middle East,” Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne endorsed measures including “Advice to French people to refrain absolutely from travelling to Iran, Lebanon, Israeli or Palestinian territories, in the coming days.”

The advisory also endorsed the return of diplomatic staff’s families from the Iranian capital city of Tehran, and a ban on missions by French officials to the countries in question.

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been engaged in diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions in the Middle East due to the increasing fear of Tehran’s retaliation against Tel Aviv for the attack against the Iranian embassy in Damascus it attributes to Israel.

Miller stressed that Secretary Blinken has had calls with foreign counterparts such as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, “to make clear that escalation is not in anyone’s interest and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate.”

The Chinese foreign ministry told Rudaw’s Mahdi Faraj on Friday that “China hopes all parties will work together to ease tensions in the region and avoid escalation,” stressing that “This cycle of escalation is the latest development of the Gaza conflict. The Gaza conflict must end as soon as possible.”

The foreign ministry also reiterated that “China will continue to play a constructive role in resolving the Middle East issue and contribute to cooling the situation based on the right and wrong of the matter itself.”

Blinken also held a separate phone call with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, underscoring that the US would stand by Israel against threats from Iran, echoing US President Joe Biden’s reiteration of Washington’s support for Tel Aviv in the face of a potential attack from Iran or its proxies in the region.

Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists on Thursday that top US commander General Erik Kurilla moved up an already scheduled visit to Israel "to meet with key IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] leadership... (and) discuss the current security threats in the region," following the rising state of alarm in the face of a potential attack. 

On the same day a notice issued by the US Embassy in Israel stated that "Out of an abundance of caution, US government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel" outside the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheeva areas "until further notice."