The war between the United States, Israel and Iran has stretched into its second week following an initial set of strikes on Feb. 28.
The conflict has also impacted neighboring Gulf countries like Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, which have been hit by Iranian drones and missiles in retaliation for U.S. strikes and hosting military bases.
The escalating fighting has had ripple effects on a global scale, including leaving thousands of travelers and Americans living abroad stranded and struggling to find their way back home.
The U.S. State Department reported Tuesday over 40,000 American citizens have safely returned to the United States from the Middle East since the war began.
But the department has faced criticism for providing limited information, slow assistance, and insufficient plans for getting people out of the region as countries closed their airspace.
Joanne Serrieh is a former CapRadio digital producer who now works as a journalist for Al Arabiya English and lives in Saudi Arabia. Serrieh and her family traveled to Dubai, where she previously lived, days before the U.S. first struck Iran, and has been stuck in the city.
She spoke with Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez about her experience navigating the ever-changing situation.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Did the war catch you by surprise?
We arrived on a Thursday; we were expecting that weekend something could happen just because of what we've been seeing on the news, all the reports we were seeing and hearing, but we did not expect it to reach to this extent. We were not expecting this part of the region to be involved directly in this way.
Back in June when the 12-day war happened with Israel and Iran I was actually on a flight back from the U.S. to Dubai, to connect and go to Riyadh. The strikes happened maybe four hours into my flight, and at that time even though it was direct attacks… we were still able to divert and then connect to Riyadh. It wasn’t as chaotic as things are now.
What is the situation for you right now? Are you able to go back to your home in Saudi Arabia or come to the United States?
As of today [Tuesday] we can. There's different ways that we can do that, whether it's to the U.S. or to Riyadh, and it's been a huge decision that we had to make whether we stay here [or] whether we go. We have [an] option by land to go to Riyadh, we can drive about 12 hours. Then from there we can either gather our things and leave through the airport, which is still functioning there fully, and go to the US if we wanted to do that. Another option would have been commercial flights from Dubai or Abu Dhabi, however those are on and off. Some are getting canceled, some are still on.
This morning, 4 a.m. local time, the State Department contacted me finally, and they offered us seats on a charter flight. But the flight would take us to Athens, and then we’re on our own to figure out our travel plans back to the U.S., or if we want to stay in Europe until things are more clear.
Joanne Serrieh (left) traveled to Dubai with her husband and son days before the U.S. and Israel launched their first strikes against Iran. She says her family has been forced to navigate confusing information from the U.S. State Department.Courtesy of Joanne Serrieh
You’re not in Dubai alone. Now that the U.S. has reached out to you, does that apply to your family as well?
I emailed them several times and tried calling the State Department. My son is a U.S. citizen; my husband is not a U.S. citizen but he does have a valid U.S. visa. That was my main concern; would it be only US citizens that would be on these charter flights or could my husband join us as well?
They did say he can as long as there's space. What I got from that is if he's the last person to board and there's one more U.S. citizen waiting for a spot, they would give the citizen the spot instead of him. That kind of scared me because I don't want my family broken up, and then we'd end up being in the U.S. for I don't know how long, and my husband would be left here. That played into our decision not to leave on the charter flight.
What was the communication like from the U.S. government during this time?
I personally always enroll in the STEP (Smart Travel Enrollment Program) with the State Department when I'm traveling in the Middle East. That way they know where I am in case anything like this does happen. We were receiving some warnings ahead of time, but it wasn't anything official. Just be on high alert, mind where you are, mind your surroundings.
Then Saturday happened. We woke up to the news of the strike on Iran. That’s when we started receiving daily messages saying “safety of the U.S. citizens is our number one concern.” Two days later, the Tuesday after the first initial strike, I saw posts all over the State Department social media saying if you’re in these 12 countries, including the UAE and Qatar, you need to get out as soon as you can.
That caused panic because as the State Department, they probably are already aware; all these countries, their airspace is closed. We don’t even have an option to leave. What did they expect us to do? There were no charter flights at the time… nothing was planned yet. Land traveling, we would only be able to go to Oman or Saudi Arabia; that's also still within the region. I don't know what they were thinking by causing that panic and anxiety for all of us abroad who didn't even have a plan for any of this.
With your experience as a journalist, is there a standard protocol for how a government should respond when something like this happens?
This is not something that [the U.S.] suddenly decided to get involved in. The bare minimum I would expect from the U.S. government is to at least have a plan to either get Americans out, or have some kind of safety plan for us here. Also have clear communication of what's happening.
We're here, we see what’s happening with our own eyes, and we can assess what feels safe and what doesn't. But when we're getting these mixed messages from the government… I’m like, “okay, but how do we get out?”
This should have been planned before. To be honest these charter flights that they just now started facilitating for us, they're more for tourists. Go to Europe, find your way back home. My home is in the US and I have a home in Saudi… all my important documents are in Saudi. I'm stuck in Dubai. How does that work exactly?
What kind of information have you been receiving from the UAE government?
We’re getting a lot of reassurance, everything is under control. There have been injuries [and] deaths reported, but if you look at the statistics, it's a way higher chance of any of us getting in a car wreck here than it is to die or get injured in one of these strikes. We are still going out in public, supermarkets are fully stocked, nothing feels like a war zone. That’s very reassuring, and that also played into the decision for us to not leave now at least.
How long are you planning to stay in Dubai?
For now our plan is actually until March 22; we have a flight booked to Riyadh. If our flight is still happening and not canceled we will go to Riyadh, gather the documents that we need in case we have to evacuate, have everything ready. As long as things are safe we will stay. If things do escalate at least we’re more prepared to leave and evacuate for a longer time.
As an American living abroad, what do you want people here to understand about what’s unfolding?
That's a tough question. My parents are in Sacramento and they're seeing what everyone else is seeing on the news. They’re on social media, which I wish people would stay away from when it comes to events like this. There’s so much unfiltered information, and it's unfiltered in a bad way.
All you're seeing is the explosions, the drones, the interceptions. That's what you think life is like now, but it's so close to being normal. It almost feels [like] there’s no danger at some points. We're still going out, seeing our friends, we feel safe.
I’d be lying if I said things feel 100% normal, it’s not. But for the time being and taking it day-by-day, I want people to know we are okay. If we weren’t, none of us would make the decision to keep our families here instead of taking these flights back to the U.S.
