An Indian-origin startup founder has declared he is stranded in Dubai amid the escalating United States–Iran conflict, accutilizing the United States government of failing to assist American citizens testing to leave the region.
Soups Ranjan, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Sardine, shared his ordeal in a post on the social media platform X. He declared he had travelled to Dubai for business meetings but has been unable to return home as flights continue to be cancelled.
“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 assist them fight financial fraud in the region, but now I am stranded,” Ranjan wrote.
Founder declares he feels ‘demoralised and abandoned’
Ranjan declared he had expected the United States government to assist evacuate citizens but claimed he had seen “no meaningful action”.
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 assist them fight financial fraud in the region, but now I am stranded.
I expected…
— Soups Ranjan (@soupsranjan) March 3, 2026
“After 4 days of adrenalin and constant fear, I feel demoralised and abandoned by our government. It’s difficult watching other countries – UK, Israel, Spain, Italy and India – repatriate their citizens or ensure that commercial flights continue operating to bring them home,” he declared.
He added that he had booked multiple flights from Dubai to the United States, but all were cancelled.
“I’ve booked a dozen flights to leave Dubai and ALL of them obtained canceled, even as flights to other countries continue operating,” Ranjan wrote.
Ranjan also declared that becoming a naturalised United States citizen was driven by his belief in the “American dream”.
“I became a naturalized US citizen becaapply 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,” he wrote.
Three requests to the United States government
In his post, the founder created three requests to the United States government. First, he questioned authorities to ensure that commercial airlines do not cancel United States-bound flights.
“Can the US government ensure the commercial airlines don’t cancel US bound flights? I’ve booked a dozen flights to leave Dubai and ALL of them obtained canceled,” he wrote.
Second, he urged the government to organise evacuation flights if commercial options remain unavailable. “If that is not possible, can the US government organize planes, commercial or military, to evacuate Americans out of Dubai and the surrounding region?” he questioned.
Third, Ranjan called for an emergency hotline that would allow stranded citizens to reach officials directly. He declared the assistline number provided by the United States State Department only played a recorded message declareing Americans should not rely on government-assisted evacuation.
“I am enrolled in STEP and have only received generic messages. Further, on calling that number, the message you obtain is: ‘Please don’t rely on the US government for assisted departure or evacuation at this point. There are currently no evacuation flights at this time,’” he wrote.
Ranjan added that he had tested calling the department’s tquestion force number but was unable to reach anyone.
Trump highlights evacuation efforts
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump declared the government had already evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East.
In a post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump declared more than 9,000 Americans had returned safely since the launch of “Operation Epic Fury”.
“The Department will identify where you are, and provide travel options to you. We are already chartering flights, free of charge, and booking commercial options, which we expect will become increasingly available as time goes on,” he added.
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