“I was informed this morning that four buses (carrying evacuees) were en route to border regions. They may have arrived by now,” he told the media after seeing off President Prabowo Subianto at Pulkovo International Airport in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Friday.
He informed that the 97 individuals had expressed their willingness to participate in the official evacuation. “Meanwhile, the total number of registered Indonesians in Iran stands at 386,” he added.
The minister said that the evacuation would be carried out in stages.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sugiono informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the Indonesian Embassy in Tehran to monitor the situation and prepare evacuation plans, with the embassy raising its alert level from 2 to 1.
“Israel is intensifying its attacks, targeting not only military facilities but also civilian areas,” he said.
He emphasized that the government is coordinating with authorities in Iran’s neighboring countries to help facilitate the evacuation.
“We have asked neighboring countries to ease border crossings for Indonesian evacuees, given the increasingly alarming conditions,” he said.
Due to the complete shutdown of flights in Tehran, the evacuation would be conducted over land, he informed.
“We continue to remind all Indonesian citizens in Iran to remain in close contact with the embassy,” he said.
Tensions between Iran and Israel reached a boiling point after Tel Aviv launched indiscriminate attacks on Tehran under the pretext of targeting nuclear sites and military facilities on June 13.
In response to the attacks, which killed several high-ranking Iranian officials, Tehran launched retaliatory strikes on Israeli targets on Friday evening local time.
IRNA quoted a senior Iranian military official, General Ahmad Vahidi, as saying that the retaliatory operation, officially dubbed as Operation True Promise III, would “continue for as long as necessary.”
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Translator: Genta T, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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