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Arabian Business
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Arabian Business
UAE, Bahrain and Oman evacuate citizens from Iran; more than 20 countries including India, China and US step up repatriation
The UAE, Bahrain, Oman and countries from across the world have stepped up efforts to evacuate citizens from Iran amid rising tensions in the region. The UAE evacuated a number of its nationals and residents from the Islamic Republic of Iran, in coordination with the relevant authorities. As part of its unwavering commitment to the safety of its nationals and residents, and in swift response to emergencies, the UAE successfully executed evacuation operations, which were coordinated and facilitated by the Iranian side, to ensure their safe return home. UAE among countries to evacuate citizens from Iran Furthermore, the UAE continues to engage in intensive calls and diplomatic consultations with the relevant and strategic partners, to de-escalate tensions and restore peace, stemming from a steadfast commitment to diplomacy and dialogue as the only viable path forward. This reflects the UAE's broader vision of fostering stability, justice, and prosperity for the peoples of the region. Meanwhile, Oman, in continuation of the efforts made by the Foreign Ministry to facilitate the repatriation of citizens from Iran, announced the safe return of 193 Omani nationals from Bandar Abbas Port to Khasab Port. The repatriation was secured as part of the third phase of the approved evacuation plan. In a humanitarian cooperation effort, this phase also included the repatriation of 158 nationals of other countries who were able to transit through Oman under the current circumstances. Additionally, 155 Omani citizens and a number of foreign nationals were safely repatriated by air from Iraq to Oman, as part of ongoing coordination with relevant authorities and the Omani Embassy in Baghdad. The Ministry, in cooperation with Oman's diplomatic missions abroad, continues to implement the evacuation plan to ensure the safe and secure return of all Omani citizens to their homeland. For its part Bahrain, in its ongoing efforts to facilitate the return of Bahraini citizens stranded abroad in countries affected by current developments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deployed a team of Bahraini diplomats to Turkmenistan. The diplomats are overseeing and coordinating with the relevant Turkmen authorities to streamline entry procedures for Bahraini citizens stranded in the Islamic Republic of Iran, enabling their transit through Turkmenistan and onward travel to the Kingdom of Bahrain via Gulf Air, the national carrier. The Ministry also arranged transportation by bus from the city of Mashhad for citizens wishing to depart Iran by land. The regional repatriations come as more than 20 countries around the world are taking measures to evacuate their citizens from Israel and Iran as the two nations enter the seventh day of their air war and airspace in the region remains closed. Some countries temporarily closed their embassies, according to Reuters. Australia: Around 1,500 Australians in Iran have registered for assistance, with another 1,200 Australians in Israel seeking to leave Austria: 48 Austrians left Israel and about 100 Austrians asked to leave Iran Bulgaria: Sofia has evacuated 17 of its diplomats and their families from Iran to Azerbaijan and is planning to repatriate them by land and air, the Bulgarian government said on Thursday. It said an administration at the Bulgarian embassy in Tehran was moving temporarily to Baku China: China has evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and hundreds more from Israel, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday The Czech Republic: A plane carrying 66 people evacuated from Israel landed near the capital, Prague France: Paris will arrange convoy by the end of the week to get French nationals without their own means of doing so to the Turkish or Armenian borders from Iran to access airports in those countries, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday. French citizens in Israel will be able to board buses starting Friday morning Germany: The German Foreign Ministry said that 345 Germans left the Middle East after the country provided charter flights Greece: Greece has evacuated 16 of its nationals and their families by land from Iran to Azerbaijan and is now working on their repatriation to Greece, the foreign ministry said on Thursday India: So far 110 Indian students have been evacuated from northern Iran, having crossed over into Armenia on June 17, India's foreign ministry said Italy: 29 of the about 500 Italian nationals left Iran on Wednesday with assistance from the government, a diplomatic source said Japan: Japan's top government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday Japan would send two Self-Defence Forces transport aircraft to Djibouti in eastern Africa in preparation for the evacuation of Japanese nationals from Iran and Israel. He also said the Japanese embassies in Israel and Iran were preparing to evacuate Japanese nationals to neighbouring countries by bus, with plans to implement evacuation as early as Thursday New Zealand: The government has temporarily closed its Tehran embassy and evacuated two staff and their family by land to Azerbaijan Poland: A group of Polish citizens evacuated from Iran landed in Warsaw on Thursday morning, ending the evacuation from the country, the Foreign Ministry's spokesperson told journalists. The first plane evacuated from Israel landed in Warsaw on Wednesday morning and a second one is expected on Thursday afternoon from Amman, with 65 people on board Portugal: has temporarily shut its embassy in Iran and evacuated four of its citizens via Azerbaijan. It has received 130 repatriation requests from citizens in Israel and is organising a repatriation flight, expected to land in Portugal later on Thursday, the foreign ministry said Serbia: A group of 100 Serbs have fled Israel via Egypt, ambassador Miroljub Petrovic said on Thursday Sierra Leone: 36 of its citizens were evacuated to Armenia Slovakia: The first evacuation flight arrived in Bratislava on Monday, carrying 73 people, 25 tourists and five family members of diplomats working in Tel Aviv South Korea: Eighteen South Korean nationals and two of their family members who are Iranian nationals were evacuated by land from Iran, South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday United States: The United States is working to evacuate U.S. citizens wishing to leave Israel by arranging flights and cruise ship departures, U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee said in a post on X
Khaleej Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
UAE evacuates citizens, residents from Iran amid conflict
The UAE has evacuated a number of its citizens and residents who were present in Iran, in coordination with the relevant authorities. As part of its ongoing commitment to the safety of its citizens and residents, and its swift response to emergencies, the UAE successfully carried out the evacuation operations with the facilitation and coordination of the Iranian side to ensure their safe return home.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘The shelter was full': Israelis confront unprecedented missile barrages
Tel Aviv, Israel – For the fourth night in a row, missiles have hit Israeli cities. Iran's retaliatory strikes, triggered by Israeli attacks, saw people sheltering in stairwells and bomb shelters as the scale of the damage and Iranian rockets managing to penetrate one of the world's most sophisticated defence systems have left many reeling. On Friday, Israel began its assault on Iran, targeting military and nuclear facilities and killing high-profile security, intelligence and military commanders as well as scientists. Israel's attacks, which have also targeted residential areas, have killed more than 224 people and wounded at least 1,481, according to Iranian authorities. The government said most of those killed and wounded have been civilians. In response, Iran has fired barrages of missiles towards Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Hundreds of Iranian missiles have been launched since Friday, and Israel's air defence systems, though robust, have been unable to stop all of them. While the number of missiles fired by Iran appears to have gone down on a night-by-night basis, the scale of the attacks continues to be unprecedented for Israelis. Central Tel Aviv, Haifa, the scientific hub of Rehovot and homes have been struck. At least 24 people in Israel have been killed in the strikes and hundreds wounded. The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, a source of national pride and a cornerstone of Israeli military research, was among the hardest hit. Its laboratories were torn open, glass panes shattered, and cables and rebar left dangling. 'This isn't just damage to buildings,' said Jenia Kerimov, 34, a biology PhD candidate who lives nearby. 'It's years of research, equipment we can't easily replace, data that might be lost forever.' She had been in a bomb shelter a block away when the institute was struck. 'We're supposed to be helping protect the country. But now even our work, our home, feels exposed.' Shelters across the country are packed. In older neighbourhoods without bunkers, residents crowd into communal safe rooms. In Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem, stairwells have become makeshift bedrooms. The Israeli military's Home Front Command has evacuated hundreds of people to hotels after buildings that were hit were deemed uninhabitable. Yacov Shemesh, a retired social worker in West Jerusalem, said his wife has been sleeping on the stairs in their apartment block since the attacks began. 'There's no shelter in our building,' the 74-year-old explained. 'I went to the roof Sunday night to see what was happening. I saw a flash in the sky and then a boom. But I couldn't find anything in the news. Maybe they [the state] don't want us to know how close it came.' The barrage has triggered panic in a society long shaped by conflict – but where, until now, the destruction and wars were inflicted elsewhere – in Gaza, Jenin or southern Lebanon. Now, many Israelis are being confronted with destruction in their home cities for the first time. In Tel Aviv, long lines snaked through the aisles of a grocery store. Despite being crowded, the atmosphere was hushed as customers tapped their phones, their faces drawn tight. Gil Simchon, 38, a farmer from near the Ramat David Airbase, east of Haifa, stacked bottles of water in his arms. 'It's one thing to hear for decades about the Iranian threat,' he said, 'but another to see it with your own eyes – to see high rises in Tel Aviv hit.' On Monday night, he used a bomb shelter for the first time in his life. Even the Kirya, Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, was struck although damage was limited. Iran's ability to hit such a fortified and symbolically vital target has deeply rattled a population raised on the reliability of its multilayered defence architecture. While much of Israel is covered by the Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow defence systems, officials admit these were not designed for a saturation attack involving ballistic missiles with heavy warheads. 'These aren't homemade rockets from Gaza,' one analyst said on Israeli television. 'These are battlefield weapons.' On Saturday night, the streets of West Jerusalem were quiet. One of the few lit spaces was a gym. Its owner gestured to the staircase descending underground. 'We're protected,' he said. Then with a smile, he added, 'Gymgoers are crazy. If you're working out at night, the gym had better be open.' Outside, the night air buzzed with tension. A neon sign flared against the darkness. A small group gathered, eyes fixed on the sky. Moments earlier, streaks of light had passed overhead. 'They're headed somewhere else – Haifa, I think,' a young man muttered. Minutes later, sirens wailed. Video soon appeared online showing flames erupting from a gas installation near Haifa. Initially, social media was flooded with footage of missile impacts – some from residential balconies, others from dashcams. By the third night, multiple reports were published of people being arrested for documenting the attacks while Israeli officials warned foreign media against breaking a ban on broadcasting such content, describing it as a security offence. Meanwhile, fears of power outages are growing. In Tel Aviv, drivers queued at petrol stations, anxious to keep their tanks full. A father strapped his children into the back seat before speeding away. His eyes flicked to the clouds, then the rear-view mirror. For some Israelis abroad, a feeling of helplessness has deepened. Eran, 37, who lives and works in New York, spoke to his elderly parents near the city of Beit Shemesh. 'They've gone to shelters before, but this time, the fear was different,' he tells Al Jazeera. 'The shelter was full. When they returned home, they found pieces of interceptor debris in the yard.' Eran, a former conscientious objector who refused Israel's mandatory military draft – for which he spent time in jail – and asked to use a pseudonym for fear of state reprisal upon his return to Israel, has long been critical of Israeli policies. Now watching his family in danger, he feels more certain than ever. 'Israel claims to act for all Jews,' he said. 'But its crimes in Gaza and elsewhere just bring danger to families like mine. Even in New York, it impacts me.' For others, the picture is murkier. 'I don't know any more where the line is between protecting ourselves and making it worse,' Gil said. 'You grow up believing we're defending something. But now, the missiles, the shelters, the fear – it feels like a cycle we can't see out of.' The Israeli government, meanwhile, has struck a belligerent tone, promising to make Tehran 'pay a heavy price'. But in the shelters, tension is mixed with exhaustion and a growing recognition that something fundamental has changed. 'It's like the feeling of a meat lover after they visit a meat-packing factory,' Gil said quietly. 'You grow up on it, you believe in it – but when you see how it's made, it makes you uneasy.' This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Netanyahu says Israel set to ‘change the face of the Middle East' amid escalating strikes against Iran
TEHRAN, June 17 — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted yesterday that Israel's campaign against Iran was 'changing the face of the Middle East', as the two countries traded heavy strikes for a fourth day. The remarks came hours after a dramatic attack on an Iranian state TV building, which forced a presenter to flee mid-broadcast and prompted a threat of retaliation against Israeli news channels. After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched a surprise aerial campaign against Iran last week, with the stated aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons—an ambition it denies. The sudden flare-up has sparked fears of a wider conflict, with US President Donald Trump urging Iran back to the negotiating table after Israel's attacks derailed ongoing nuclear talks. While Trump has maintained that Washington has 'nothing to do' with its ally's campaign, he issued an extraordinary warning on Monday for all residents of Tehran to 'immediately evacuate'—echoing a narrower warning by Israel's army for people to flee the capital district where the TV station was later hit. Israel's strikes have killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to Iranian authorities. Netanyahu told a press conference Monday evening that Israel was eliminating Iran's security leadership 'one after the other'. 'We are changing the face of the Middle East, and that can lead to radical changes inside Iran itself,' he said. Iran has launched several waves of missiles in retaliation for Israel's attacks, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards boasting Monday evening that the attacks would continue 'without interruption until dawn'. Inhabitants of Tel Aviv were briefly told to seek shelter early Tuesday, a day after Iranian strikes on multiple Israeli cities pushed the death toll above two dozen in Israel. 'Very scared' Earlier, the live feed of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) was interrupted when an Israeli strike hit its Tehran building yesterday. The presenter was in the midst of lambasting Israel when an explosion rocked the facility, causing the monitors behind her to cut out and sending debris raining from the ceiling. Prior to the strike, Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Iran's 'propaganda and incitement megaphone is about to disappear'. IRIB resumed its broadcast shortly after the strike, with a senior official at the service saying 'the voice of the Islamic revolution... will not be silenced with a military operation'. Iran later 'issued an evacuation warning for the N12 and N14 channels of Israel', state TV reported, calling the order a 'response to the hostile attack' on IRIB. Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa on Monday, leaving behind shattered homes, smouldering wreckage and stunned residents picking through debris. 'I have four children, four boys. We're very scared, but everyone is OK,' said Idan Bar, whose building in Petah Tikva was among those hit. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said a nearby missile strike lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv, while the US State Department warned citizens on Monday not to travel to Israel due to security concerns. The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was also leaving Southeast Asia on Monday after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it was headed to the Middle East to boost the US presence there. 'Takes one phone call' International calls for calm have mounted. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters at the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies on Monday that he believed his fellow leaders were united in wanting de-escalation, adding the 'risk of the conflict escalating is obvious'. French President Emmanuel Macron called for both sides to 'end' strikes on civilians and warned that aiming to overthrow Tehran's clerical state would be a 'strategic error'. China called on Israel and Iran to both 'immediately take measures to cool down the tensions' and avoid plunging the region into deeper turmoil. Trump had initially urged Iran to come back to the negotiating table, but then wrote on his Truth Social platform: 'Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!' Shortly afterwards, the White House said Trump would return to Washington, cutting short his stay at the G7 summit and hinting at greater US involvement in the conflict. The United States and Iran had engaged in several rounds of indirect talks on Tehran's nuclear programme in recent weeks, but Iran said after the start of Israel's campaign that it would not negotiate while under attack. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that 'absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue'. 'It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy,' he wrote on X. A senior US official told AFP Trump had intervened to prevent Israel from carrying out an assassination of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility when asked about the reports during an interview with ABC News. 'It's not going to escalate the conflict, it's going to end the conflict,' he said. — AFP
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel issues, then drops Iran missile warning
Israel's army warned early Tuesday that it had detected new missiles launched from Iran, but swiftly dropped an alert and said people no longer needed to take cover. 'It is now permitted to leave protected spaces in northern Israel,' the Israeli army said on Telegram. It had previously warned that missiles launched from Iran were heading toward northern Israel, saying it was working to intercept the threat. Israel and Iran traded missile fire for a fifth day on Tuesday, heightening fears the conflict could escalate or spill across borders. After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched a surprise aerial campaign last week targeting sites across Iran, saying the attacks aimed to prevent its arch-foe from acquiring atomic weapons — a charge Tehran denies. Israel's strikes have killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians, according to Iranian authorities. Iran's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the prime minister's office.
