Anxious travelers scramble as Iran war strands hundreds of thousands across the Middle East

By RIO YAMAT, STEFANIE DAZIO and MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press

Frustrated and anxious travelers searched Tuesday for any way out of the Middle East and beyond as the widening Iran war choked off commercial air traffic through the region for a fourth straight day, stranding hundreds of thousands of people.

What began Saturday with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran quickly rippled far beyond the immediate conflict zone. With airspace closed or heavily restricted across much of the Gulf, passengers have been stranded not only in the region but also in cities far from the fighting after their connecting flights were canceled.

“They say ‘Get out,’ but how do you expect us to get out when airspaces are closed?” said Odies Turner, a 32-year-old chef from Dallas who was stuck in Doha, Qatar. “They just have been canceling every flight. I want to go home.”

The U.S. told American citizens to leave more than a dozen countries in the region right away using any available commercial transportation. The countries include Iran and Israel, as well as Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Sy...