Ottawa’s foreign ministry said it erred when it issued a public statement Friday advising all Canadians in the Middle East to leave if possible as a conflict between Israel and Iran escalates.

Instead, it told Canadians to consult its travel advisories for individual countries in the region.

The Department of Global Affairs in a Saturday statement advised Canadians to keep abreast of its official travel advisories for specific countries and other areas in the region, which currently warn Canadians to “avoid all travel” to Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, as well as Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

In a media notice preceded by the word “Erratum” – a Latin word for error – Global Affairs revised its update for media to remove a statement advising Canadians in the Middle East to head home.