Latest news with #diplomats
ABC News
9 hours ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Australian embassy staff in Tehran rushed out of Iran amid fears of bigger conflict in the Middle East
The federal government has rushed Australian diplomats in Tehran out of Iran and across the border into Azerbaijan as fears of a major war in the Middle East continue to mount. It is also ramping up its warnings to Australians in Iran, urging them to make their own way out of the country by road if they can safely do so. The ABC has been told that Australian diplomats — along with family members — spent almost 24 hours travelling by car to get out of the country as Israel and Iran continue to trade strikes, and as President Donald Trump contemplates US military action against Tehran. At least some of those Tehran-based diplomats are expected to stay in place near the Iran-Azerbaijan border as they work to evacuate more Australians from Iran. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement the government had "directed the departure of all Australian officials and dependents and suspended operations at our Embassy in Tehran, based on advice about the deteriorating security environment in Iran". "Australia's Ambassador to Iran will remain in the region to support the Australian Government's response to this crisis," she said. Foreign embassies have been repeatedly targeted before during crises in Iran, most famously during the 1979 Revolution when US diplomats were taken hostage. In 2006, paramilitary groups attacked the Danish embassy in Tehran to protest cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper, while Azerbaijan's embassy was attacked in January this year. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is also now issuing more urgent warnings to Australians in Iran, saying that it "urge[s] Australians who want to leave Iran to do so now, if it is safe". "Australians in Iran who are unable to leave, or do not wish to leave, are advised to shelter in place," it said. Just over 2,000 Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members have now registered with the federal government to say they want to leave Iran. The travel advice tells Australians they can potentially leave by road to Türkiye, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, but also warns roads "may be crowded and exposed to security risks such as military action, rocket attacks and terrorism". "You should consider the risks carefully before attempting to leave by any route and you should make your own assessment whether it's safe for you to travel in current circumstances," it said. "If you are not confident in the safety and reliability of any departure option, shelter in place and follow the advice of local authorities." The advice also said Australians would need a visa to cross most of those borders, with the exception of Armenia. One DFAT official — who is not based in Iran — told the ABC that the Tehran-based diplomats should have been evacuated from the country earlier and that the government and senior DFAT management in Canberra had been too slow to grant their request to leave. The US State Department directed all non-essential personnel at its embassy in Iraq to leave the country on Wednesday last week, just before Israel's initial strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. A separate government source defended DFAT's response, saying it had to juggle a host of competing imperatives in a very fluid and uncertain environment. It came as the federal government and DFAT officials intensified efforts to get more Australians out of Israel, as well as Iran. The government has been preparing to send in either Australian Defence Force or chartered flights out of the region for stranded Australians, but said it was impossible to take that step right now with airspace closed and as missiles continue to fly. Flights to major international airports in both Israel and Iran remain suspended, while Iraq and Jordan have also suspended many flights in the midst of the conflict. The government has already organised buses to help a small number of Australians, believed to measure in the dozens, to leave Israel. Senator Wong said on Thursday that the government had "taken the opportunity to get a small group of Australians out of Israel through a land border crossing" on Wednesday, and was "seeking to try and do more of that over the next 24 hours". Some other Australians have also been turning to private transport companies to get out of Israel. Many European countries have already repatriated hundreds of citizens from Israel, largely by bus to Egypt and Jordan, where they have been able to take flights back home. US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has also said their embassy was "working on evacuation flights and cruise ship departures" for "American citizens wanting to leave Israel". While organising evacuations from Iran is more complicated, China has said that it has now assisted more than 1,600 of its citizens to leave the country. Beijing said on Thursday its "embassies and consulates will continue to make every effort to assist in the safe transfer and evacuation of Chinese citizens". Around 1,000 Pakistanis have also fled Iran so far, along with at least 110 Indian students.
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Cornered Iran could unleash sinister attacks on US soil as it runs out of options against Israel, insiders say
Desperate Iranian mullahs could lash out at America ordering deadly cyber attacks on our dams and electricity grids – or even terror attacks from 'sleeper cells', security experts are warning. spoke to former top diplomats, cybersecurity and national security experts who said that although the Iranian regime is on the back foot and reeling from Israeli bombardment, it still has the ability to wreak havoc on US soil. A former senior diplomat who had extensive Top Secret security briefings on Iran told that the new 'hot war' between Iran and Israel, and Ayatollah Khameini's increasingly desperate position, has ratcheted up the risk of the regime taking drastic action in the US. 'I can't imagine, seeing how this war is going, that Iran is going to hold back,' said the top ex-US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'They're running out of options, and this is one of the areas in which they've unfortunately been quite effective. 'You can't manufacture new missiles or centrifuges overnight. But you can empower whatever proxies are remaining to act with even more deadly results. 'Assassination attempts, terror attacks, they will of course still try to do those things. It's no secret they have made assassination attempts on US soil, in Washington DC. 'Their capabilities for doing so are becoming less both because of their degrading situation, and also because we're on much higher alert here in DC. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his fellow Ayatollah, an honorific title for high-ranking Shia clergy, have become increasingly desperate, which has ratcheted up the risk of the regime taking drastic action in the US 'But If they employ hacking capabilities on mass infrastructure, our energy grid, our nuclear facilities, major dams, these are all things that are vulnerable.' The former top State Department official said Iran had been pouring money for years into political opposition to US Iran hawks and promoting critiques of its enemies such as Israel on university campuses. But a hail-Mary strategy for the regime action could see Iranian government-backed online activity turn to more dangerous hacking. 'It's not just about stoking up anti-American fervor on campus. It's also about finding the weakest parts of the systems that keep us all safe,' the ex-official said. 'You don't need to bomb trains. You could just have the signals mixed up due to a digital hack and have them run into each other.' Rex Booth, who worked as the chief of cyber threat analysis at the government's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, gave a stark warning that Iran's hackers have already infiltrated critical US infrastructure. 'They have a demonstrated ability of infiltrating infrastructure and remaining there undetected for extended periods of time,' he told Booth pointed to a 2013 hack of the control center of the Bowman Avenue Dam in Westchester County, New York by hackers working for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The former top State Department official who chose to remain anonymous said Iran had already been pouring money for years into political opposition to the US and promoting critiques of its enemies, such as Israel on university campuses Former Chief of Cyber Threat Analysis at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, Rex Booth, said even though their 2013 plan failed, Iran's hackers have the potential to produce 'catastrophic consequences' (PICTURED: The seven Iranian hackers) Disaster was averted by luck, as the dam's sluice gate was offline for maintenance at the time. But it was a chilling example of exposed infrastructure. 'The idea is that they can open dams, release water when they're not supposed to, and potentially cause, depending on how the dam is situated, catastrophic consequences downstream,' Booth said. 'We learned, based on observations that the private sector makes as well as government has made, that there is substantial intrusion into our national critical infrastructure by a variety of nation-state actors. 'And our visibility into that intrusion, we know is limited. We know it's happening, we see a portion of it, but we suspect that's a pretty small percentage. 'So when we go to engage adversarial nations in conflict, we have to do so with the knowledge that we don't have full visibility into the extent of the infiltration of these nations into our systems that we depend on day in, day out. And with that comes real risk.' Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has railed against outdated and vulnerable security systems for private dams in his state, stating in a congressional hearing last year: 'I don't want to wake up to a news report about a small town in the Pacific Northwest getting wiped out because of a cyberattack against a private dam upriver.' In 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had just four full-time employees tasked with overseeing 2,500 dams across the US and had not updated its cybersecurity requirements for commercial dam operators since 2016. FERC proposed new cybersecurity standards in September but has not yet implemented them. One insider, EJ Kimball, said Israel has been so effective in its assassination of Iranian and Hezbollah military leaders that terrorists may be confused as to who to take orders from Kimball, who works as Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement for the nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement and is a national security consultant, said the FBI has testified in Congress for years that Iranian support networks operate inside the US National security consultant EJ Kimball told there is 'certainly a risk that the Iranians may escalate things regarding the US.' 'The FBI has reported in congressional testimony over the years about Iranian support networks operating inside the US,' added Kimball, who works as Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement for the nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement. 'It's certainly a big risk that those networks could be activated to carry out terrorist attacks here. 'We know that Hezbollah has been operating in the US for over 25 years, probably over 30 years at this point. Hezbollah is controlled by Iran.' But Kimball added that Israel had been so effective in its lightning assassinations of Iranian and Hezbollah military leaders that potential terrorists may not know who to take orders from anymore. 'Obviously a desperate regime will lead to desperate measures being taken. But those can only be taken if someone is there to give the orders,' he said. 'If you're one of those sleeper cells in the United States that's been here, you would have to be a die hard to actually move forward with it, because there is essentially no path to victory for the Iranian cause. 'The quicker that this war with Iran ends, the less likelihood that those agents would actually activate.' 'There's a lot of bluster. The question is, what is their actual capability? We have to plan for the worst, but expect the best,' Kimball said.
The Independent
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Foreigners evacuated by air, land and sea as Israel-Iran conflict worsens
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. Some 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 said Thursday. 'We are not closing the embassy, but moving it to Baku until the danger passes,' said Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. A group of 89 Bulgarians was evacuated from Israel by plane to Sofia, along with 59 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 border from Israel. He said the government had urged all Bulgarians willing to join the convoy to do so. They set off in 11 vehicles on Wednesday morning. 'There were alternatives. They could travel via Turkey, but eventually we decided that they should go via Azerbaijan,' Zhelyazkov added. China China said it has evacuated more than 1,600 nationals from Iran and 'several hundred others' from Israel. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said 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, said 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 some friends hired a car and headed to Azerbaijan, waiting at border control for almost 12 hours, where he saw as many as 60 other Chinese nationals. The Chinese Embassy said it would organize group evacuations by bus from Israel starting Friday. A notice posted on the embassy's WeChat social media account said citizens would be taken out through the Taba border crossing to Egypt. It asked them to register online and said they would be notified of the evacuation time. People carrying Chinese, Hong Kong, and Macao passports were eligible, the notice said. European Union The European Union has helped evacuate some 400 people from Israel via Jordan and Egypt as part of its efforts to coordinate an emergency response within the 27-nation bloc. 'Member states coordinate the list and we co-finance these flights up to 75% of the transport costs,' European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told a regular press conference in Brussels on Wednesday. Hrncirova said the E.U. was fielding requests by Slovakia, Lithuania, Greece, and Poland for assistance with Middle East evacuations. France French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said 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 said people in Iran could travel to Armenia and Turkey without a visa. Those unable to reach the border 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, some buses will carry passengers from the Israeli border to Amman and Sharm el-Sheikh airports. Germany Germany flew 171 people out of Amman on a special flight on Wednesday. A further 174 people returned on Thursday and another flight is planned this weekend. Passenger Daniel Halav, who was stuck in Tel Aviv, said he had 'never been so glad to be home' after landing in Frankfurt, the German news agency dpa reported. But, he said, '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 said officials had decided against organizing convoys to get people to Amman, arguing this move could have created a security risk and that those wishing to leave were scattered across Israel. Greece Greece's Foreign Ministry said 141 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 transport planes. India India said it evacuated 110 students by road from northern Iran to the Armenian capital, Yerevan. They left on a special flight on June 18. 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, some 22,000 holidaymakers had asked the Israeli Tourism Ministry to help them leave the country. There are around 38,000 tourists in Israel. The Transport Ministry said thousands of Israelis have returned daily in the past few days, with 21 planes bringing back nationals stranded abroad since the start of the aerial campaign against Iran. The Population, Immigration, and Border Authority said 38,250 Israelis entered the country between June 13 and 19, and 21,456 left during the same period. The majority of arrivals and departures were by land. Middle East & North Africa Oman said Thursday it had evacuated 245 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 government on Thursday decided to evacuate its nationals from Iran. 'Our citizens are at risk,' Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono said. 'Over the past two days, Israel's attacks have grown more intense, not only targeting the military, but also civilians.' He said about 386 Indonesians, mostly students, were in Iran, primarily in the city of Qom. The ministry earlier said some 194 Indonesians were in Israel, mostly student interns in the southern city of Rafah. Sugiono did not give a timeframe for evacuations, but said Iran has promised to help with the process. Japan Japan is sending two military aircraft to Djibouti to stand by for the possible airlifting of Japanese nationals from Iran. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters he had issued an order to send two C-2 transport aircraft, along with 120 armed forces personnel, to the Horn of Africa nation, where Japan has a military base. An advance team of servicemembers left Japan earlier Thursday. Chief of the Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida said the C-2 dispatch was to secure multiple options for evacuation when necessary. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the embassy in Iran was preparing to evacuate an unspecified number of Japanese nationals by bus. Some 280 Japanese are in Iran, and 1,000 are in Israel. Poland Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Moscicka-Dendys said a group would depart from Amman by military aircraft on Thursday, following road transportation from Israel to the Jordanian border. Some 160 Poles arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday morning from Israel via Egypt, the Polish news agency PAP reported. The deputy minister said 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 border. South Korea South Korea's Foreign Ministry says 18 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 difficult 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 said Wednesday. He said there are about 350 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 travel for the services. The embassy has also prepared the land routes for Thais to travel to Iran's neighbors, Nikorndej said. 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 said Americans interested in leaving Israel should enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program for updates. There are some 700,000 Americans, many of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, in Israel and thousands more in other Mideast countries, including Iran. ——
The Independent
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump resumes student visa interviews. From social media to personal beliefs here's what's being screened
The State Department is restarting interviews for student visas applicants after freezing any new interview appointments for nearly a month. Last month, the State Department ordered an immediate freeze as Donald Trump's administration prepared to expand how it reviews applicants' social media profiles while taking aim at college campuses over pro-Palestine demonstrations. The new guidance directs embassies and consulates to 'conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants,' including academic and vocational studies students (F and M visas) as well all applicants in educational and cultural exchange programs (J visas). Those applicants will be instructed to change the privacy settings on their social media profiles to 'public.' The new guidelines impact not only new applicants but also students whose applications are currently in progress. A recent cable directs diplomats to review social media profiles for 'any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.' Another instructs diplomats to screen for 'advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security' and 'support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.' If social media profiles are 'private' or limited, 'you should treat the case as any other where an applicant fails to provide certain information on request,' according to a cable reviewed by The Washington Post. Another instruction, in bold, tells diplomats: 'You must consider whether such failure reflects evasiveness or otherwise calls into question the applicant's credibility.' The new screening measures follow similar guidance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and language from across the administration as it targets campus dissent against Israel's war in Gaza, which officials broadly characterized as antisemitic. Last month, USCIS announced the agency was 'immediately' reviewing immigrants' social media accounts for what it considers 'antisemitic activity' that could be used as evidence to deny them legal status in the United States. 'This will immediately affect aliens applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students and aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity,' according to the agency. The measures follow a series of high-profile arrests of international students and academics for their roles in campus activism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he 'proudly' revoked hundreds of student visas in response. Trump has zeroed in on campus activism at prestigious universities, including Harvard University, one of a handful of institutions that has pushed back against the administration's funding threats. The Department of Homeland Security accused the university of fostering 'anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators.' DHS also ordered the administration to 'terminate' the university's certification for enrolling international students, and commanded all currently enrolled foreign students to leave the university or risk losing their legal status in the country. A federal judge temporarily blocked the order. Trump signed two executive orders that critics fear are being used to chill speech in support of Gaza and Palestine by conflating demonstrations with antisemitism and support for Hamas. One declares U.S. policy to 'ensure' noncitizens 'do not … advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.' A fact sheet for another executive order pledges 'immediate action' to 'investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities' with a promise to 'deport Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas.' 'Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,' the State Department said in a statement on Wednesday. 'The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission.' Last month, Rubio said he plans to 'aggressively revoke' Chinese student visas, targeting students with 'connections to the Chinese Communist Party' and those who are 'studying in critical fields.' The two-sentence announcement blindsided universities and foreign students who have been scrambling for guidance about what comes next for the thousands of international students on American campuses. Officials did not publicly say how they're deciding whether they believe students are connected to the country's ruling party or what those 'critical fields' of study even are. More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in American universities within the last school year. Those students contributed roughly $43.8 billion a year to the U.S. economy and supported more than 378,000 jobs, according to the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
French court to rule on freeing Lebanese militant
A French court is set to deliver a long-awaited ruling in July on the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats. The Paris appeals court, initially set to deliver its verdict in February before postponing, will now announce its decision on July 17 after re-examining the request on Thursday. "I told the judges, either you release him or you sentence him to death," his lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset told the media after the closed-door hearing. Abdallah, 74, was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov. He has been eligible for release for 25 years, but has seen multiple requests for his freedom denied. The United States, a civil party to the case, has consistently opposed his release but Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said he should be freed from jail. In November 2024, a French court ordered his release conditional on Abdallah leaving France. But France's anti-terror prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision which was consequently suspended. Abdallah has always insisted he is a "fighter" who battled for the rights of Palestinians and not a "criminal". The appeals court said in February the decision to postpone was prompted by the unresolved question of whether Abdallah had proof that he had paid compensation to the plaintiffs, something he has consistently refused to do. His lawyer said on Thursday he presented documents showing some 16,000 euros ($18,360) in Abdallah's prison account "at the disposal of civil parties". First detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987 over the murders, the 74-year-old is one of the longest serving prisoners in France -- most convicts serving life sentences are freed after less than 30 years. mdh/ekf/sjw/giv
