The U.S. Virtual Embassy in Iran issued a security alert Friday telling Americans in the country to get out — now — and to do it by land.

The alert directed U.S. citizens to depart Iran via land crossings into Armenia or Turkey, as airlines continue to limit or cancel flights in and out of the country. Azerbaijan's land borders are closed to routine traffic, narrowing the already slim options for anyone still inside the Islamic Republic.

According to Fox News, the warning landed the same day a U.S. delegation led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner sat down with Iranian officials in Oman — a meeting aimed at pressing Tehran on its nuclear enrichment program, its ballistic missile arsenal, and its support for Hamas and Hezbollah.

A Country that Doesn't Want You to Leave — or Communicate

The embassy's alert painted a picture of a country tightening its grip in real time:

"Increased security measures, road closures, public transportation disruptions and internet blockages are ongoing."

That's not a travel inconvenience. That's a government methodically cutting off its population — and anyone caught inside its borders — from the outside world. The alert further noted that Iran continues to restrict access to mobile, landline, and national internet networks. Citizens were advised to plan alternative means of communication and to expect continued outages.

When a regime shuts down the internet while closing roads, it isn't managing traffic. It's managing control.

Level 4: The Highest Warning the State Department Issues

Friday's alert didn't come out of nowhere. The State Department had already slapped Iran with a Level 4 — Do Not Travel advisory back in December, its most severe designation. The reasoning was blunt:

"Due to the risk of terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, arbitrary arrest of U.S. citizens and wrongful detention."

The State Department maintains four advisory levels, and Level 4 is reserved for places where no amount of caution is considered sufficient. Iran has earned that distinction. The broader advisory also warns Americans against traveling to Afghanistan or the Pakistan-Iran border area.

For context, the Swiss Embassy in Tehran handles consular functions for American citizens in Iran, since the U.S. has no physical embassy there. The "Virtual Embassy" exists online. That alone tells you something about the nature of the regime Americans are being told to flee.

Diplomacy with Teeth

The timing of this alert matters. Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Oman to press American demands directly to Iranian officials — an end to nuclear enrichment, curbs on ballistic missiles, and a halt to Tehran's funding and arming of proxy groups across the Middle East.

President Trump has also demanded an end to the regime's violent crackdown on protesters. The diplomatic track and the security alert aren't contradictions — they're two instruments playing the same note. You negotiate from strength, and part of that strength is making clear that you take the threat seriously enough to pull your people out.

This is how serious diplomacy works. You don't sit across the table from a regime and pretend everything is fine while your citizens dodge road closures and internet blackouts inside their borders. The alert reinforces the leverage. Tehran knows Washington isn't bluffing about the danger, which means Tehran knows Washington isn't bluffing at the table, either.

Who's Still There?

The alert doesn't specify how many Americans remain in Iran, and that uncertainty is part of what makes the situation so precarious. With flights being canceled, internet access throttled, and land routes narrowing to two viable crossings, the window for a safe departure is not guaranteed to stay open.

Americans who ignored a Level 4 advisory in December are now being told, in the plainest possible language, to leave immediately through whichever border crossing will still have them. Armenia or Turkey. Those are the options. Plan accordingly, communicate while you can, and move.

The regime in Tehran wants to project strength at the negotiating table while locking down its own streets. That contradiction won't hold forever — and no American should be inside Iran when it breaks.