Jamaica advises nationals to avoid travel to Middle East amid US-Israeli strikes on Iran

The Jamaican Government is advising citizens to “avoid all travel” to the Middle East and is urging nationals in the region to shelter in place amid joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran and that country’s retaliatory attacks.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica is monitoring military hostilities in the Middle East at this time. While hoping for an early resolution, we urge all Jamaicans in the region to exercise vigilance and to shelter in place as conditions may require," said Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith.

"The ministry is also generally advising Jamaicans to avoid all travel to the region at this time," she added.

Johnson Smith said persons with specific concerns or an emergency, and need to reach the Ministry, they are advised to do so at consular@mfaft.gov.jm or +1 876 391 8105.

The advisory comes after the United States and Israel launched major strikes on Iran on Saturday, prompting retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Tehran against Israeli targets and United States military bases in the region.

The exchange has heightened fears of a wider regional conflict, with airspace closures reported in parts of the Middle East and emergency diplomatic consultations under way at the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, has reportedly died.

Two Israeli officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement, said Israel had confirmed Khamenei’s death.

There was no immediate confirmation from Iran, and earlier Saturday Iran’s foreign minister told NBC News the leader was alive “as far as I know.”

The assassination of the second leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no designated successor, would throw its future into doubt and raise the prospect of a protracted conflict given Iranian threats of retaliation.

In a nationally televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had been killed when Israel struck his compound early Saturday.

Shortly after the address, two Israeli officials said Israel had confirmed his death. The officials both spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement and gave no further details.

Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He had the final say on all major policies, leading Iran’s clerical establishment and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard – the two main centres of power in the country’s theocracy.

As the attack on Iran unfolded, President Donald Trump urged the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership. In a video announcing the “major combat operations,” Trump told Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, on Saturday evening said at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and US military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.

Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of the 86-year-old Khamenei. Before Israeli officials confirmed the death, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive “as far as I know." He called the attack “unprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.”

The strikes during the holy fasting month of Ramadan opened a stunning new chapter in US intervention in Iran, marking the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has attacked the Islamic Republic during talks over its nuclear program.

About 12 hours after the attacks began, the US military reported no US casualties and minimal damage at US bases despite “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.” It said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.

The targets included various members of Iran’s leadership, according to a US official and another person briefed on the attacks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. There was no immediate information on whether other top officials were killed.

- The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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