Foreigners evacuated by air, land and sea as Israel-Iran conflict worsens

ISLAMABAD AP Countries are evacuating their nationals from Israel and Iran by air land and sea as conflict rages between the bitter rivals Days of attacks and reprisals by the two enemies have shuttered airspace across the Middle East severely disrupting commercial flights and leaving people unable to get in or out of the region easily Various governments are using land borders to get their citizens out by road to countries where airports remain open Thousands of foreigners have already left since the conflict started last Friday when Israel launched surprise missile strikes on Iran Bulgaria Bulgaria has moved all its diplomats from Tehran to the capital of Azerbaijan Baku the Balkan country s prime minister stated Thursday We are not closing the embassy but moving it to Baku until the danger passes declared Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov A group of Bulgarians was evacuated from Israel by plane to Sofia along with nationals from Slovenia the U S Belgium Albania Kosovo and Romania They left from the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh where they had been transferred by bus across the frontier from Israel He explained the executive had urged all Bulgarians willing to join the convoy to do so They set off in vehicles on Wednesday morning There were alternatives They could movement via Turkey but eventually we decided that they should go via Azerbaijan Zhelyazkov added China China reported it has evacuated more than nationals from Iran and several hundred others from Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun revealed Beijing would continue to do its utmost to assist in the safe transfer and evacuation of Chinese citizens Aell Huang who was in the Iranian city of Isfahan stated he didn t feel safe during the conflict I heard explosions from time to time Civilians got hurt too I got more prepared mentally once I saw the embassy s warning He and certain friends hired a car and headed to Azerbaijan waiting at dividing line control for almost hours where he saw as various as other Chinese nationals The Chinese Embassy mentioned it would organize group evacuations by bus from Israel starting Friday A notice posted on the embassy s WeChat social media account declared citizens would be taken out through the Taba territory line traveling to Egypt It petitioned them to register online and declared they would be notified of the evacuation time People carrying Chinese Hong Kong and Macao passports were eligible the notice explained European Union The European Union has helped evacuate certain people from Israel via Jordan and Egypt as part of its efforts to coordinate an exigency response within the -nation bloc Member states coordinate the list and we co-finance these flights up to of the travel costs European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova advised a regular press conference in Brussels on Wednesday Hrncirova disclosed the E U was fielding requests by Slovakia Lithuania Greece and Poland for assistance with Middle East evacuations France French Foreign Minister Jean-No l Barrot noted Thursday it was helping nationals who want to leave Iran and Israel to do so through neighboring countries where commercial flights were still available Barrot reported people in Iran could passage to Armenia and Turkey without a visa Those unable to reach the edge on their own would be transported by convoy by the end of the week so they could take commercial flights to France French nationals wanting to leave Israel can go via Jordan and Egypt From Friday morning various buses will carry passengers from the Israeli perimeter to Amman and Sharm el-Sheikh airports Germany Germany flew people out of Amman on a special flight on Wednesday A further people returned on Thursday and another flight is planned this weekend Voyager Daniel Halav who was stuck in Tel Aviv declared he had never been so glad to be home after landing in Frankfurt the German news agency dpa informed But he explained we had to take care of ourselves of how we got to Amman From my point of view we were left a bit alone there The German Foreign Ministry revealed bureaucrats had decided against organizing convoys to get people to Amman arguing this move could have created a prevention pitfall and that those wishing to leave were scattered across Israel Greece Greece s Foreign Ministry reported Greeks and other nationals have been evacuated from Israel via Egypt The group included citizens from Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus France Germany Georgia Hungary Italy Lithuania Portugal Romania Sweden Switzerland and the United States They were flown to Athens early Wednesday from Sharm el-Sheikh aboard two military passage planes India India announced it evacuated students by road from northern Iran to the Armenian capital Yerevan They left on a special flight on June The Indian Embassy in Iran has been helping nationals to move from areas experiencing increased hostilities to relatively safer areas within the country subsequently evacuating them according to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi Israel As of Thursday various holidaymakers had inquired the Israeli Tourism Ministry to help them leave the country There are around tourists in Israel The Carriage Ministry commented thousands of Israelis have returned daily in the past scarce days with planes bringing back nationals stranded abroad since the start of the aerial campaign against Iran The Population Immigration and Boundary Authority announced Israelis entered the country between June and and left during the same period The majority of arrivals and departures were by land Middle East North Africa Oman explained Thursday it had evacuated of its citizens and nationals from other countries via the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas Ten buses transported Omani citizens from Iran s north into Turkey A further three buses crossed into Iraq Indonesia The Indonesian leadership on Thursday decided to evacuate its nationals from Iran Our citizens are at menace Indonesia s Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono declared Over the past two days Israel s attacks have grown more intense not only targeting the military but also civilians He disclosed about Indonesians mostly students were in Iran primarily in the city of Qom The ministry earlier revealed specific Indonesians were in Israel mostly learner interns in the southern city of Rafah Sugiono did not give a timeframe for evacuations but commented Iran has promised to help with the process Japan Japan is sending two military aircraft to Djibouti to stand by for the feasible airlifting of Japanese nationals from Iran Defense Minister Gen Nakatani communicated reporters he had issued an order to send two C- carriage aircraft along with armed forces personnel to the Horn of Africa nation where Japan has a military base An advance group of servicemembers left Japan earlier Thursday Chief of the Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff Gen Yoshihide Yoshida stated the C- dispatch was to secure multiple options for evacuation when necessary Japan s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi commented the embassy in Iran was preparing to evacuate an unspecified number of Japanese nationals by bus A few Japanese are in Iran and are in Israel Poland Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Moscicka-Dendys mentioned a group would depart from Amman by military aircraft on Thursday following road transportation from Israel to the Jordanian limit Various Poles arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday morning from Israel via Egypt the Polish news agency PAP disclosed The deputy minister reported while there were no plans to evacuate citizens from Iran Warsaw was helping with the departure of non-essential personnel from the embassy in Tehran The staff along with seven Polish citizens left the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning for the Azerbaijan margin South Korea South Korea s Foreign Ministry says South Korean nationals and two Iranian family members were evacuated from Iran and arrived in Turkmenistan late Wednesday by land The ministry described the evacuation as a preemptive move to protect citizens as the closure of airspace would have otherwise made it arduous for them to leave It urged South Koreans in Iran and Israel to promptly depart in line with embassy instructions and advised travelers to cancel or postpone trips to the region Twenty-five nationals and one Israeli family member were escorted out of Israel by embassy staff and arrived in Jordan on Thursday morning Thailand Thai nationals have been advised to leave Tehran at the earliest opportunity and avoid traveling to affected areas although there is no immediate plan for an evacuation from Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura commented Wednesday He explained there are about Thais in Iran and only five had expressed a wish to return to Thailand The embassy in Tehran has set up a temporary shelter for Thais in Amol and has temporarily relocated its office to Kordan to ensure the safety of those needing to trip for the services The embassy has also prepared the land routes for Thais to passage to Iran s neighbors Nikorndej commented United States The State Department is planning to evacuate Americans from Israel by air and on cruise ships according to the U S Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee Huckabee stated Americans interested in leaving Israel should enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Venture for updates There are particular Americans various of them dual U S -Israeli citizens in Israel and thousands more in other Mideast countries including Iran