Govt asks citizens to avoid travelling to Iran amid regional tensions
- Govt says it is closely monitoring the Middle East situation.
- Fully committed to protection of Pakistani citizens, says govt.
- Necessary measures “initiated” for safe return of Pakistanis.
The government has asked its citizens to avoid travelling to Iran for a limited period in light of recent Israeli attacks.
In its advisory issued for the citizens, the government said it is closely monitoring the situation and remains fully committed to the protection of its citizens.
In line with the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, necessary measures have already been initiated for the safe return of Pakistani nationals currently present in Iran, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement.
On the other hand, diplomatic sources claimed that thousands of Pakistani religious tourists and pilgrims were stranded in Iran and Iraq.
A Pakistani traveller said the only available emergency number of Pakistani embassy in Tehran was closed.
Whereas, the sources said the Pakistani ambassador to Iran was in Pakistan on leaves.
Moreover, the traveller said nobody was receiving the call on Pakistani embassy’s emergency numbers in Iraq as well.
The sources said the Pakistani embassy in Iraq was operating as usual. While, the Pakistani embassy in a notice said the embassy will remain closed on June 15 owing to a religious holiday.
Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military facilities with a barrage of missiles on Friday, killing several top officials and prompting a counter-attack by Iran in one of the most serious escalations in recent memory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s attack on its arch-rival would last “as many days” as needed, and cited Israeli intelligence that Tehran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.
Nine Iranian nuclear scientists, heads of Iran’s entire military and its Revolutionary Guards are among 215 killed in massive Israeli attacks. Tehran’s air defences also reportedly suffered a massive hit.
Iran has since launched multiple waves of salvoes on Israeli cities but only some missiles have hit targets, killing nearly 10 people.
