Countries Around the World Evacuate Citizens From Middle East as Iran War Enters 4th Day

Governments around the world are scrambling to repatriate their citizens from the Middle East, as the Iran War enters its fourth day.

Thousands of flights across the region have been canceled or delayed following the joint U.S.–Israeli strikes on Tehran, leaving foreign nationals unable to travel home by their usual routes.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told lawmakers in the House of Commons on March 3 that the government is working with airlines to increase capacity out of Muscat, Oman, to repatriate British citizens.

The minister said that 130,000 Britons have registered their presence in the Middle East.

“We ​are also working with airlines on increasing ‌capacity ⁠out of Muscat for British nationals, with priority for vulnerable nationals,” Cooper told parliamentarians.

“A government ​charter fight ​will ⁠fly from Muscat in the coming days, ​prioritising vulnerable nationals, but ​British ⁠nationals in Oman must wait to be contacted by the ⁠foreign ​office regarding these ​options.”

British Airways said in a statement posted on its website that it remains unable to operate flights from destinations in the Middle East including Abu Dhabi, Amman, Doha, Dubai, and Tel Aviv.

“We’re aware that a number of our customers are now in Oman, where the airspace is currently open,” the statement said.

“Working with the relevant authorities we’ve been able to schedule a flight from Muscat to London, departing at 02:30 local time on 5 March.”

Other European Countries Begin Evacuation

Other European countries have begun evacuating their citizens from the region—some, similar to the UK, using Muscat as a point of egress.

Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said a flight carrying citizens would depart on March 4 from Muscat. Meinl-Reisinger said a first evacuation flight carrying “particularly vulnerable individuals” already took off on March 1.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said her country would begin evacuations of the most vulnerable from the United Arab Emirates and other surrounding Gulf states.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw had prepared planes for an evacuation in case the situation in the region deteriorates. He said that more than 480 Poles have already left Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon.

The Italian government said on March 3 it is working “non-stop” to assist citizens in the Middle East. The government has a number of flights scheduled to evacuate its citizens, including one from Muscat carrying around 300 people and another from Abu Dhabi to bring 200 people—mostly young students—home. An additional flight from Muscat has been scheduled for March 4.

Evacuation of South Koreans, Thai Nationals

Officials from South Korea said on March 3 that they evacuated 62 citizens from Israel to Egypt by bus, as well as four Americans of Korean descent.

Seoul also said it evacuated 23 South Koreans who were in Iran to Turkmenistan by bus. The South Korean Foreign Ministry said their citizens would be transported to the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat, from which they will be able to fly back to South Korea or to a third country on March 4.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on March 3 that the country would be evacuating 300 nationals from Iran, including its diplomats, overland via Turkey before being flown back as soon as possible to Thailand.

There are around 100,000 Thai nationals living and working in the Middle East, including 60,000 in Israel, Thai officials said.

Americans Told to Leave Middle East

The U.S. Department of State on March 2 urged Americans currently in more than a dozen Middle Eastern regions and countries to leave immediately, due to “serious safety risks.”

U.S. citizens in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen should depart through any available commercial transportation, the State Department said in a travel security fact sheet shared in a post on X by Mora Namdar, the U.S. State Department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on March 2 said it is unable to evacuate American citizens from Israel, with the ambassador advising citizens to evacuate via the Sinai Peninsula.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote in a post on X on March 3 that options for Americans to leave Israel are “very limited,” recommending that U.S. nationals use the Israeli Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle service to the Taba Border Crossing and get “flights from there or going on to Cairo for flights back to the US.”

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.