By RIAZAT BUTT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Iran-Israel conflict has shuttered airspace across the Middle East as the two bitter enemies launch attacks and reprisals at one another.

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The worsening security situation has seen foreigners scramble to evacuate. But, with so much travel disruption in the region, it’s a tough task.

Some governments are using Iran’s land borders to get their nationals out. Others are advising their citizens on how to leave voluntarily or stay safe until an official exit plan is in place.

Here’s a look at evacuation efforts from Iran and Israel:

Border buses and convoys

Iran shares land borders with seven countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.

Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it had evacuated dozens of its citizens from Iran in convoys heading to Azerbaijan and Turkey on Monday. Poland is evacuating some of its diplomatic staff from Tehran through Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the Russian Embassy in Tehran was working “around the clock” to ensure nationals could leave Iran via a checkpoint on the border with Azerbaijan.

“All (Russian) citizens who are in Tehran and got in touch (with the embassy), for all of them the possibility of evacuating is being provided,” Peskov said during his daily conference call with the media.

Moscow had earlier advised citizens to leave Iran and Israel by commercial means. The Russian Embassy in Tehran said several hundred people had already left Iran via the Astara border crossing into Azerbaijan, including the families of those working in Iran, members of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, and citizens from Belarus, Serbia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.

Peskov said that he was unaware of state-organized evacuations, but that such plans could be put in place if needed.

The Astara crossing has also been used by citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Portugal, the Philippines and Finland.

Pakistan has started voluntary repatriations from Iran by bus to land border crossings. Pakistani passport holders are barred from traveling to Israel.

China said that its Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions in Iran and Israel had promptly activated “emergency consular protection mechanisms” upon the outbreak of hostilities and was “actively assisting” Chinese nationals seeking to leave.

Third-country options

Cyprus, the closest European Union country to Israel, says Portugal and Slovakia have asked for help in repatriating their citizens.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Monday that his government has received informal requests from other governments about Cyprus’ ESTIA plan, which provides for the brief accommodation of evacuated third-country nationals before their repatriation.

Cyprus has acted as a transfer point for third-country evacuees following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, attack. In April 2023, Cyprus also assisted in the repatriation of U.K. nationals from Sudan.

Turkmenistan is making its territory available for the departure of foreign diplomats and their family members, as well as other citizens in Iran. Those who have arrived so far have been given food, accommodation and other essential items, according to the Foreign Ministry in Ashgabat.

Albania has thanked the Greek and Bulgarian Embassies in Tel Aviv, Israel, for helping Albanians who were in Israel for business and tourism. The Albanians are in Egypt and are expected to make their way home from there.

Taiwan’s government helped its citizens in Israel to leave by land for Jordan early Sunday on a bus that was arranged by Taiwan’s representative office in Israel.

Taiwan’s representative office in Jordan is helping the Taiwanese nationals return home.

Guidance and eventual help

The French Foreign Ministry has urged citizens in Israel to be “’in a position to reach a shelter in a short time frame” and said there is a ban on any public gatherings and nonessential professional or educational activities.

It has urged citizens to register with French authorities for eventual help. The ministry reiterated an earlier warning against nonessential travel to Israel and provides guidance on overland journeys to Jordan or Egypt. It also reiterated warnings against all travel to Iran.

The Thai Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday advised nationals to leave the Iranian capital as soon as they could. It has set up a temporary shelter for Thai citizens in the historic Iranian city of Amol, which is about 12 miles south of the Caspian Sea.

Thailand’s government said that it’s ready to evacuate Thai people in Israel and Iran if necessary, adding that no Thais have been injured in the ongoing conflict.

The U.K. Foreign Office said that family members of staff at the U.K. Embassy in Tel Aviv and the U.K. Consulate in Jerusalem have been temporarily withdrawn as a precautionary measure. It advises against all travel to Israel and Iran, but hasn’t ordered an evacuation.

Instead, it advises people to “register their presence” if they are in Israel or the Palestinian territories, and offers information on international land border crossings to Jordan and Egypt that are open.

In Iran, having a British passport or connections to the U.K. can be “reason enough” for authorities to detain someone, warns the Foreign Office.

“U.K. government support is extremely limited in Iran,” it said. “Assume that no face-to-face consular assistance will be possible in an emergency.”

AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.

By MEG KINNARD and THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press

A schism has opened among President Donald Trump’s most devout MAGA supporters and national security conservatives over the Israel-Iran conflict, as some longtime defenders of the president’s America First mantra call him out for weighing a greater U.S. role in the region.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, commentator Tucker Carlson and conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk — with legions of their own devoted followers — are reminding audiences of Trump’s 2024 promises to resist overseas military involvement after a week of deadly strikes and counterstrikes between Israel and Iran, and discussion of U.S. involvement.

On social media and their popular airwaves, questions about Trump’s stance from these central validating voices are exposing a crack in his forward guard. They are also warning that the schism could deter progress on other priorities.

“No issue currently divides the right as much as foreign policy,” Kirk wrote on X, adding he was “very concerned” that a massive split among MAGA could “disrupt our momentum and our insanely successful Presidency.”

The State Department and U.S. military last week directed a voluntary evacuation of nonessential personnel and their loved ones from some U.S. diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.

President Donald Trump walks away following the family photograph during the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Trump on Monday abruptly departed this week’s G7 Summit in Canada due to the intensifying conflict, returning to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team. He also posted an ominous social media warning that “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

The moves sparked new speculation from his isolationist devotees that the U.S. might be deepening its involvement, perhaps by providing the Israelis with bunker-busting bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites or offering other direct U.S. military support.

Other strong Trump backers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are making the case that this is Trump’s moment to deliver a decisive blow against Iran. Graham is calling for Trump to “go all-in” in backing Israel and destroying Iran’s nuclear program.

“If that means providing bombs, provide bombs,” he said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “If that means flying with Israel, fly with Israel.”

Any option comes with political risk for Trump, who, as he returned to Washington, expressed exasperation at Iranian leaders’ failure to reach an agreement.

“They should have done the deal. I told them, ‘Do the deal,’” he told reporters on Air Force One. “So I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”

On Tuesday, Trump said on social media that the U.S. knows where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding during the conflict but doesn’t want him killed “for now.” He also called for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”

A look at what some of Trump’s top MAGA-world backers are saying:

Tucker Carlson

On Monday, Carlson’s increasingly critical rhetoric toward Trump reached a new level, as the longtime supporter who headlined large rallies with Trump during the 2024 campaign suggested Trump’s posture was breaking his pledge to keep the United States out of new foreign entanglements.

“You’re not going to convince me that the Iranian people are my enemy,” Carlson said as a guest on “War Room,” the podcast led by 2016 Trump campaign adviser Steve Bannon. “It’s Orwell, man. I’m a free man. You’re not telling me who I have to hate.”

Carlson posted to X that same day his call to challenge other Trump media supporters like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin to push the president to uphold his campaign pledge.

Trump has bristled at the criticism, posting on social media, “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that,’ IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

The Georgia Republican — the epitome of MAGA, sporting the signature red cap for President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address — has publicly sided with Carlson, directly calling out Trump for deriding “one of my favorite people.”

Saying the former Fox News commentator “unapologetically believes the same things I do,” Greene wrote on X Monday night that those beliefs include that “foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction.”

“That’s not kooky,” Greene added, using the same word Trump used to describe Carlson. “That’s what millions of Americans voted for. It’s what we believe is America First.”

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Charlie Kirk

The founder of Turning Point USA has been generally supportive of Trump, saying Monday in an interview with Fox News that “this is the moment that President Trump was elected for,” but he’s also warned of a potential MAGA divide over Iran since last week.

Days later, Kirk said, “Trump voters, especially young people, supported President Trump because he was the first president in my lifetime to not start a new war.” He also wrote that “there is historically little support for America to be actively engaged in yet another offensive war in the Middle East. We must work for and pray for peace.”

That same day, Kirk noted, “The last thing America needs right now is a new war. Our number one desire must be peace, as quickly as possible.”

There have been other divides

The evolving situation surrounding Iran isn’t the first time Trump and some of his base have diverged, and it’s possible the current tension is more of a disagreement than a breakup between the president and the MAGA faithful.

In April, some of the thought leaders and influential podcasters who backed Trump’s campaign voiced doubts as global markets buckled under the pressure of impending tariffs.

Trump has been critical of U.S. support for Ukraine, in December calling Biden’s decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use American long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory “a very stupid thing to do.” But Trump stopped short of cutting off all funding, something for which other allies, including Carlson, have advocated.

Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and LISA MASCARO, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s tax and budget bill would increase deficits by $2.8 trillion over the next decade after including other economic effects, according to a more fulsome analysis of the measure released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office.

The report, produced by the nonpartisan CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation, factors in expected debt service costs and finds that the bill would increase interest rates and boost interest payments on the baseline projection of federal debt by $441 billion.

Tuesday’s report uses dynamic analysis by estimating the budgetary impact of the tax bill by considering how changes in the economy might affect revenues and spending. This is in contrast to static scoring, which presumes all other economic factors stay constant.

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The CBO released its static scoring analysis earlier this month, estimating that Trump’s bill would unleash trillions in tax cuts and slash spending, but also increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade and leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance.

Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said Tuesday on social media that considering the new dynamic analysis, “It’s not only not paying for all of itself, it’s not paying for any of itself.”

The analysis comes at a crucial moment as Trump is pushing Congress, where Republicans have majority control, to send the final product to his desk to become law by the Fourth of July. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other Republicans have sought to discredit the CBO, saying the organization isn’t giving enough credit to the economic growth the bill will create.

Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee unveiled a proposal Monday for deeper Medicaid cuts, including new work requirements for parents of teens, as a way to offset the costs of making Trump’s tax breaks more permanent in draft legislation unveiled for his self-described big, beautiful bill.

The first House proposal on the new Medicaid work requirement exempted parents with dependents. But the Senate’s version broadened the requirement to include parents of children older than 14, as part of their effort to combat waste in the program and push personal responsibility.

The proposals from Republicans keep in place the current $10,000 deduction of state and local taxes, called SALT, drawing quick blowback from GOP lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states, who fought for a $40,000 cap in the House-passed bill. Senators insisted negotiations continue.

Bessent said Tuesday that the Senate Republican proposal for the tax cuts bill “will deliver the permanence and certainty both individual taxpayers and businesses alike are looking for, driving growth and unleashing the American economy.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Senate and the House to further refine this bill and get it to President Trump’s desk,” he said in a news release.

The CBO separately released another analysis on the tax bill last week, including a look at how the measure would affect households based on income distribution. It estimates the bill would cost the poorest Americans roughly $1,600 a year while increasing the income of the wealthiest households by an average of $12,000 annually.

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Monday proposed deeper Medicaid cuts, including new work requirements for parents of teens, as a way to offset the costs of making President Donald Trump’s tax breaks more permanent in draft legislation unveiled for his “big, beautiful bill.”

The proposals from Republicans keep in place the current $10,000 deduction of state and local taxes, called SALT, drawing quick blowback from GOP lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states, who fought for a $40,000 cap in the House-passed bill. Senators insisted negotiations continue.

The Senate draft also enhances Trump’s proposed new tax break for seniors, with a bigger $6,000 deduction for low- to moderate-income senior households earning no more than $75,000 a year for singles, $150,000 for couples.

All told, the text unveiled by the Senate Finance Committee Republicans provides the most comprehensive look yet at changes the GOP senators want to make to the 1,000-page package approved by House Republicans last month. GOP leaders are pushing to fast-track the bill for a vote by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the chairman, said the proposal would prevent a tax hike and achieve “significant savings” by slashing green energy funds “and targeting waste, fraud and abuse.”

It comes as Americans broadly support levels of funding for popular safety net programs, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Many Americans see Medicaid and food assistance programs as underfunded.

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What’s in the big bill, so far

Trump’s big bill is the centerpiece of his domestic policy agenda, a hodgepodge of GOP priorities all rolled into what he calls the “beautiful bill” that Republicans are trying to swiftly pass over unified opposition from Democrats — a tall order for the slow-moving Senate.

Fundamental to the package is the extension of some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks approved during his first term, in 2017, that are expiring this year if Congress fails to act. There are also new ones, including no taxes on tips, as well as more than $1 trillion in program cuts.

After the House passed its version, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the nation’s deficits over the decade, and leave 10.9 million more people without health insurance, due largely to the proposed new work requirements and other changes.

The biggest tax breaks, some $12,000 a year, would go to the wealthiest households, CBO said, while the poorest would see a tax hike of roughly $1,600. Middle-income households would see tax breaks of $500 to $1,000 a year, CBO said.

Both the House and Senate packages are eyeing a massive $350 billion buildup of Homeland Security and Pentagon funds, including some $175 billion for Trump’s mass deportation efforts, such as the hiring of 10,000 more officers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

This comes as protests over deporting migrants have erupted nationwide — including the stunning handcuffing of Sen. Alex Padilla last week in Los Angeles — and as deficit hawks such as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul are questioning the vast spending on Homeland Security.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned that the Senate GOP’s draft “cuts to Medicaid are deeper and more devastating than even the Republican House’s disaster of a bill.”

Tradeoffs in bill risk GOP support

As the package now moves to the Senate, the changes to Medicaid, SALT and green energy programs are part of a series of tradeoffs GOP leaders are making as they try to push the package to passage with their slim majorities, with almost no votes to spare.

But criticism of the Senate’s version came quickly after House Speaker Mike Johnson warned senators off making substantial changes.

“We have been crystal clear that the SALT deal we negotiated in good faith with the Speaker and the White House must remain in the final bill,” the co-chairs of the House SALT caucus, Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a joint statement Monday.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York posted on X that the $10,000 cap in the Senate bill was not only insulting, but a “slap in the face to the Republican districts that delivered our majority and trifecta” with the White House.

Medicaid and green energy cuts

Some of the largest cost savings in the package come from the GOP plan to impose new work requirements on able-bodied single adults, ages 18 to 64 and without dependents, who receive Medicaid, the health care program used by 80 million Americans.

While the House first proposed the new Medicaid work requirement, it exempted parents with dependents. The Senate’s version broadens the requirement to include parents of children older than 14, as part of their effort to combat waste in the program and push personal responsibility.

Already, the Republicans had proposed expanding work requirements in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, known as SNAP, to include older Americans up to age 64 and parents of school-age children older than 10. The House had imposed the requirement on parents of children older than 7.

People would need to work 80 hours a month or be engaged in a community service program to qualify.

One Republican, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, has joined a few others pushing to save Medicaid from steep cuts — including to the so-called provider tax that almost all states levy on hospitals as a way to help fund their programs.

The Senate plan proposes phasing down that provider tax, which is now up to 6%. Starting in 2027, the Senate looks to gradually lower that threshold until it reaches 3.5% in 2031, with exceptions for nursing homes and intermediate care facilities.

Hawley slammed the Senate bill’s changes on the provider tax. “This needs a lot of work. It’s really concerning and I’m really surprised by it,” he said. “Rural hospitals are going to be in bad shape.”

The Senate also keeps in place the House’s proposed new $35-per-service co-pay imposed on some Medicaid patients who earn more than the poverty line, which is about $32,000 a year for a family of four, with exceptions for some primary, prenatal, pediatric and emergency room care.

And Senate Republicans are seeking a slower phase-out of some Biden-era green energy tax breaks to allow continued develop of wind, solar and other projects that the most conservative Republicans in Congress want to end more quickly. Tax breaks for electric vehicles would be immediately eliminated.

Conservative Republicans say the cuts overall don’t go far enough, and they oppose the bill’s provision to raise the national debt limit by $5 trillion to allow more borrowing to pay the bills.

“We’ve got a ways to go on this one,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.