Travel alert ‘strongly’ advises New Zealanders to keep away from Middle East

New Zealand has up to date journey recommendation for the Middle East, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warning the navy battle between Iran and the US might escalate additional in coming days.

The ministry’s Safe Travel website says the scenario stays unpredictable with navy strikes and reprisal assaults taking place in various places.

It says if the safety scenario deteriorates additional there may very well be journey disruption and airspace closures.

The alert warned that New Zealanders travelling by means of the Middle East transit hubs might develop into stranded for prolonged intervals.

It has now issued a Level 3 alert – advising towards all non-essential journey to Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

It suggested folks to seek the advice of with their journey insurance coverage suppliers to grasp the coverage’s situations, together with if authorities journey advisories or warfare exceptions might probably void their protection.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has issued recommendation to air operators to keep away from Gulf airspace till not less than 29 July 2026.

It stated folks ought to test with their journey suppliers to verify if their flights had been affected.

New Zealanders who had been within the places the place journey alerts had been issued ought to monitor media carefully for reporting of potential targets within the area and warnings issued by native authorities.

“For those travelling, we strongly advise New Zealanders to avoid the Middle East and consider other travel routes. If you need to transit these locations, stay as short a time as possible and avoid unnecessary activities. Airspace may close at short notice. Flights can change or stop suddenly. Borders can close,” the advisory stated.

“US strikes had been reported in many locations across Iran, including in Buschehr, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Konarak, Kurdistan, Sirik, Tabriz and Hamadan,” it stated.

Iran had focused US navy and different pursuits throughout the area and attacked or warned of assaults on civilian infrastructure together with airports and water desalination amenities, the advisory stated.