After four days of being stranded in Dubai, entrepreneur Soups Ranjan has said the American dream has been shattered as the Donald Trump administration has abandoned citizens across West Asia amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
After four days of being stranded in Dubai, entrepreneur Soups Ranjan has said the American dream has been shattered as the Donald Trump administration has abandoned citizens across West Asia amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
In a post on X, Ranjan said that while other countries —such as the United Kingdom, Israel, Spain, Italy, and India— were arranging for the return of their citizens stuck in the region, the Trump administration had turned a blind eye.
Such a treatment of citizens broke the fundamental premise of American citizenship, said Ranjan, the Founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm SardineAI.
“I became a naturalised US citizen because I believe in the American dream, and the idea that in a crisis, America never leaves its citizens behind. I see that American dream being shattered not just for me, but for tens of thousands of other Americans left stranded,” said Ranjan.
After four days of no outreach from the administration or response to pleas, Ranjan said he was demoralised and felt “abandoned by our government”.
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After the United States and Israel launched the offensive against Iran on Saturday, Iran retaliated with strikes on Israel and American personnel and bases across the region, enveloping the entire West Asia into the conflict and leaving tens of thousands of foreigners in the region stranded as civilian air traffic was disrupted. The problem has been worsened as the
United States —and some other countries— have shuttered their embassies and consulates across the region.
I am a proud US citizen and founder of a successful startup that employs 94 employees in the US and 180+ employees globally. I was in Dubai on a business trip meeting with financial institutions to help them fight financial fraud in the region, but now I am stranded.
I expected…
— Soups Ranjan (@soupsranjan) March 3, 2026
Ranjan said the administration claims of assisting citizens in their return through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (Step) were incorrect.
Ranjan said, “I am enrolled in Step and have only received generic messages. Further, on calling that number, the message you get is: ‘Please don’t rely on the USG [US Government] for assisted departure or evacuation at this point. There are currently no evacuation flights at this time.’”
Ranjan said that the helpline announced by the Department of State —1-202-501-4444— is useless as well.
“With funding cuts to the US consulates and with attacks on US embassies in the region, there’s no one that Americans can reach out to in the broader GCC region. Can we set up an emergency hotline within the US that actually works, and that has someone who is taking down more details?” Ranjan said.
Amid the war, the United States has announced the closure of embassies and missions in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon were shut down indefinitely, and missions in Israel have also announced they cannot help with repatriation.
Even as the administration has not moved to help with repatriation, it has told all American nationals in the region to leave 14 countries at the earliest: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
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