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Foreign Office issues fresh travel warnings after US attack
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has updated its advice for British nationals, telling travellers to 13 countries in the region, including the UAE, Turkey, Israel, to be extra vigilant.
It is also warning against all travel to Iraq and all but essential travel to Iran.
The advice was updated on Saturday morning, following the US attack in Baghdad on Friday, which killed Iran’s ‘second most powerful man’ General Qasem Soleimani.
After the attack, the US announced it was sending 3,000 extra troops to the Middle East.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the updated advice was issued amid ‘heightened tensions in the region’ and would be kept under review.
He said: "The first job of any government is to keep British people safe."
The Foreign Office advice says: "The FCO now advise against all travel to Iraq, except for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where the FCO continue to advise against all but essential travel; updated information and advice on the security situation.
"The FCO now advise against all but essential travel to Iran. Advice against all travel for British-Iranian dual nationals remains unchanged."
Dual British-Iranian nationals had already been advised not to travel to Iran because they face ‘significantly greater risks of arrest, questioning by security services or arbitrary detention’.
The FCO has also updated its advice to travellers to UAE, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria and Afghanistan: " Following the death of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in a US strike in Baghdad on 3 January, British nationals in the region should remain vigilant and keep up to date with the latest developments, including via the media and this travel advice."
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Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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