War: over 600 foreigners flee to Azerbaijan from Iran

More than 600 foreign citizens have gone through Iran in nearby Azerbaijan since Israel started hitting the country last Friday, said a government official in Baku.

“From the beginning of the military escalation between Israel and Iran, over 600 citizens of 17 countries have been evacuated by Iran through Azerbaijan,” said the government source at AFP Tuesday.

The displaced persons, who have crossed the border through the checkpoint of Astara on the coast of the Caspian Sea, are transported to Baku airport and “flown to their countries of origin on international flights,” said the source.

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Among those evacuated there are citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrghizistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, the United States, United Arab Emirates, China and Vietnam.

Azerbaijan closed its terrestrial boundaries in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemics and has since kept them closed.

“In light of the evacuation needs, Azerbaijan temporarily opened its border for those who left Iran,” said the official.

The Polare Foreign Ministry said he would have evacuated part of his embassy staff to Tehran via Baku.

“We decided to evacuate or support the departure of the staff who do not need to stay in the country, the so-called non-essential staff,” the deputy foreign minister Henryka Moschicki-dendys told journalists.

“Our colleagues will try to reach the border with Azerbaijan,” he said, without specifying how many people have been involved.

Turkmenistan-one of the most closed countries in the world-he said he has also allowed the transit of about 120 people evacuated by Iran through its territory, mainly citizens of the countries of Central Asia.

Israel has launched unprecedented strikes in Iran from Friday, claiming that it aims to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon – a goal that Iran denies to pursue.

The Israeli attacks killed at least 224 people and wounded more than 1,000, according to an official toll released on Sunday.

In retaliation, Iran has made several attacks that killed at least 24 people in Israel from Friday, according to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

AFP