Several European countries have started organizing the first flights to evacuate their citizens from the Middle East as the war in the region intensifies.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced on Tuesday that 175 Spanish citizens had boarded a scheduled flight from Abu Dhabi and were on their way to Madrid.
The repatriation operations come after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on Saturday. Iran responded with attacks on Israel and countries in the Persian Gulf. Commercial aviation has been largely suspended across much of the region due to the conflict.
According to estimates from Madrid authorities, around 30,000 Spanish citizens are currently in the conflict region.
Additional flights are being planned to accelerate the departure of Spanish citizens,
especially from the United Arab Emirates, where about 13,000 Spaniards live, Albares said.
He added that “the most difficult situation” concerns Iran, where more than 150 Spanish citizens remain.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told Parliament that the British government is organizing a charter flight from Muscat, the capital of Oman, in the coming days. As of Tuesday morning, 130,000 British citizens in the Middle East had registered with the Foreign Office.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country is also preparing an operation to evacuate Polish citizens from the region. He has instructed that government aircraft flights be cancelled so the planes can be ready for evacuation if necessary.
Tusk said that about 14,000 Polish citizens are currently in the United Arab Emirates.
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