Iran is making arrangements for evacuation of nationals from Ukraine despite the fact the country�s airspace remains closed because of a conflict with neighboring Russia.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeid Khatibzadeh said on Thursday that authorities in Tehran had asked for permissions for one or several special flights from Ukraine to evacuate the Iranian nationals from various areas in the country.

However, he said that no country had been able to fly out nationals from Ukraine over the past 10 days.
�Of course we will not wait for this as we are making all efforts on the ground and currently there is no problem for evacuation of Iranians from Ukraine,� Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
Iranian government estimates suggest more than 5,000 Iranians work or study in Ukraine. The foreign ministry issued a third notice on Thursday warning the Iranian nationals to avoid conflict zones in Ukraine hours after Russia launched attacks on several cities in the country.

Khatibzadeh said Iran was in touch with the two sides of the conflict to ensure the safety of its nationals, adding that the Iranian embassy in Kiev had launched a hotline to respond to calls from Iranians living in the country.

Iran�s flag carrier IranAir said on Thursday it was ready to send special flights to Ukraine to evacuate nationals from there.

IranAir�s spokesman Hossein Jahani said that the airline has no routine flights between Tehran and Kiev but was ready to send flights as soon as the Ukrainian airspace is reopened.

Iranian embassy in Ukraine also recommended nationals to take �any opportunity possible� to leave the country.

 

 

By PRESS TV