Travel advisories, evacuation: What countries are doing to shield their citizens from Israel-Iran conflict

As the conflict between Israel and Iran escalates, nations are scrambling to evacuate their citizens from the two warring nations. Israel and Iran have been trading drones and strikes for six days, plunging West Asia into uncertainty.

Amid heightened tensions, foreigners have started fleeing the two countries. However, the closure of huge areas of airspace across West Asia has caused travel disruptions.

Here’s how nations are evacuating their nationals.

India asks citizens to leave Tehran

As the Israel-Iran conflict intensified, India on Tuesday (June 17) asked its nationals to leave Tehran, the Iranian capital.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement: “Indian students in Tehran have been moved out of the city for reasons of safety, through arrangements made by the Embassy”.

As per reports, India has evacuated at least 110 of its students from Iran through Armenia.

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

Of the more than 100 Indian evacuees, 90 are from Jammu and Kashmir. These Indian students are expected to land in Delhi at 10.15 pm on Wednesday, reported NDTV. They were seen boarding a connecting IndiGo flight at an airport in Doha.

The Indian Embassy in Tehran has also set up emergency helplines for its nationals in Iran.

China, other Asian countries ask citizens to move out

China has urged its nationals to leave Israel and Iran “as soon as possible”. The Asian giant said that its Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions in the two enemy nations had promptly deployed “emergency consular protection mechanisms” as hostilities broke and were “actively assisting” Chinese nationals seeking to leave.

China began evacuating its citizens from Tehran to Turkmenistan by bus on Tuesday, according to state-run China News Service.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, told a news briefing, “Seven hundred and ninety-one Chinese nationals have already been relocated from Iran to safe areas, and over 1,000 more are in the process of being evacuated.”

Japan has asked its citizens to “evacuate and avoid all travel” to Iran, Kyodo News reported. The Japanese embassy in Iran said Tuesday it was considering evacuating its citizens by bus to a neighbouring country by June 19.

South Korea raised its travel advisory for Israel and Iran, urging its nationals to move out of the two countries immediately, as per the Korea Herald newspaper.

Malaysia “strongly advised” its nationals to leave Iran immediately. The government said it was keeping an eye on the situation in Iran through its embassy in Tehran. “This ongoing effort has intensified following the Israeli regime’s acts of aggression against Iran on June 13, which have significantly heightened tensions in the region,” its Foreign Ministry said.

Thailand told its citizens to leave the Iranian capital as soon as possible. The Thai Embassy in Tehran has also established a temporary shelter for Thai citizens in the historic Iranian city of Amol, about 20 kilometres south of the Caspian Sea.

The Thai government said it is ready to evacuate its citizens from Iran and Israel if necessary. “The government has prepared all necessary measures to help Thai workers,” Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Tuesday.

Pakistan has started repatriating hundreds of its citizens from Iran and Iraq since tensions heightened between Tehran and Israel last week. Pakistanis are barred from travelling to Israel.

Bangladesh has said it has initiated efforts to ensure “safe evacuation” of nearly 400 Bangladeshis in Iran.

Taiwan’s representative office in Israel arranged a bus for Taiwanese in the Jewish country to leave for Jordan early Sunday. Taiwan’s representative office in Jordan is helping Taiwanese nationals return home.

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France & other nations issue advisories

As Iran and Israel enter Day 6 of the conflict, several Western nations have issued travel advisories, while some have started evacuating their citizens.

France has asked its nationals in Israel to be “in a position to reach a shelter in a short time frame”, saying there is a ban on any public gatherings and nonessential professional or educational activities, reported Associated Press (AP).

The French Foreign Ministry urged its citizens to contact French authorities for any help. It also warned against all travel to Iran.

The European Union’s top diplomat said Tuesday the European Commission is assisting EU countries to evacuate their citizens from Israel.

Poland, Czechia, Latvia and Lithuania announced they were evacuating citizens from Israel.

Italy’s Foreign Ministry evacuated dozens of its citizens from Iran in convoys going to Azerbaijan and Turkey on Monday.

The United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, told Parliament this week that British citizens in Israel should register with the British Foreign Office to receive “important information on the situation and leaving the country.”

The UK government has advised its nationals against travelling to Israel and the occupied territories, as well as Iran.

Russia’s ambassador to Israel asked Russian nationals to leave until the situation improves, reported the state news agency, Tass. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian Embassy in Tehran was working “around the clock” to ensure citizens could leave Iran through 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.

According to the Russian Embassy in Tehran, hundreds of people had already left Iran via the Astara border crossing on the Caspian Sea coast into Azerbaijan.

Besides Russians, the citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, the Philippines and Finland were also using the Astara crossing to get out of Iran, reported AP.

Canada has urged its nationals to avoid all travel to Israel and Iran.

Australia has advised against travel to Israel and the occupied territories. “Terror attacks can occur anywhere at any time, including by lone actors,” it said in an advisory.

Slovakia and the Czech Republic have taken 139 people home from Israel, who arrived in their respective countries on government planes on Monday.

Cyprus, the closest EU country to Israel, said Portugal and Slovakia sought its help to repatriate their citizens.

Turkmenistan said it gave a nod to the transit of around 120 evacuees from Iran through its territory, mostly citizens of Central Asian countries. Those who reached were provided food, accommodation and other essential items, according to the Foreign Ministry in Ashgabat.

Albania has appreciated the Greek and Bulgarian Embassies in Israel’s Tel Aviv for helping its citizens in Israel. The Albanians are in Egypt, from where they are likely to head home.

How many foreigners have been evacuated?

Hundreds of foreigners have left Iran through land routes amid its conflict with Israel. Over 700 foreign nationals have crossed from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia since the conflict began last week, government officials in Baku and Yerevan said on Tuesday.

“Since the start of the military escalation between Israel and Iran, more than 600 citizens of 17 countries have been evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan,” a government source told AFP.
The evacuees, who crossed the border via the Astara checkpoint, were being taken to the Baku airport and “flown to their home countries on international flights,” the source said.

Those evacuated are citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, the US, the UAE, China and Vietnam.

“In light of the evacuation need, Azerbaijan has temporarily opened its border for those leaving Iran,” the official said.

With inputs from agencies