The US State Department has said it had ordered non-emergency staff to leave six Middle Eastern countries, as Iran retaliated against US-Israeli strikes, AFP reports.

The department said it had updated travel advisories for Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates “to reflect the ordered departure of non-emergency US government personnel”.

The advisories for five of the countries cited an “ongoing threat of drone and missile attacks from Iran”, while the notice for Iraq cited “security concerns”.

The US embassy in Kuwait said today it was closed until further notice, a day after an AFP correspondent saw smoke rising from the mission following Iranian attacks on the country.