87 Japanese Nationals, Family Members Evacuate from Israel, Iran; Over 1,000 Still Remain in 2 Countries (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:38 JST, (updated at 14:10 JST, June 20)

A total of 87 Japanese nationals and their family members have evacuated from Israel and Iran due to the increased hostilities between the two countries, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said at an emergency press conference on Friday morning that the 87 people had requested to leave and were taken to either Jordan, which borders Israel, or Azerbaijan, which borders Iran, by bus.

According to the ministry, 21 people from Israel arrived in Amman on Thursday, and 66 people from Iran arrived in Baku the following day. None had any health issues and most were planning to return to Japan by commercial aircraft.

About 1,000 Japanese nationals remain in Israel and about 220 in Iran. The ministry has arranged a second evacuation by bus from Iran as early as Saturday.

“The situation has become extremely tense. We will do our utmost to protect Japanese nationals with a sense of urgency,” Iwaya said.

The government on Thursday announced it would soon dispatch two C-2 transport aircraft of the Air Self-Defense Force to Djibouti in eastern Africa to stand by in case more Japanese nationals need to be evacuated.