Armenia and Azerbaijan have received a total of around 1,500 evacuees from Iran, as the country’s conflict with Israel and the US continues.
Azerbaijani pro-government media outlet APA has reported that Azerbaijan received just under 1,200 people from Iran — among whom only four were Iranian nationals.
The vast majority of those received were foreign nationals, with 361 Chinese nationals, 246 Russians, and at least 99 Tajiks. According to the outlet, 224 of the evacuees were Azerbaijani nationals.
On Wednesday noon, APA separately reported that 21 additional people have been evacuated via the Astara State Border with Iran, including Tajiks, Pakistanis, Chinese, and French nationals.
Azerbaijan’s land border has been closed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the authorities extending the closure of the borders regularly since, citing the pandemic.
On the other hand, Armenia reportedly received 400 evacuees from Iran between Monday and Tuesday, among whom were 300 Iranians, reported Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik.
Sputnik added that foreign nationals and diplomats were fleeing Iran via the Meghri checkpoint as Iran’s airspace remains closed.
Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan have officially shared any numbers of border crossings from Iran since the outbreak of the conflict in late February.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
