Islamabad:
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has confirmed that 450 Pakistani pilgrims have been successfully evacuated by Iran, saying the government taken all necessary measures to ensure security for Pakistani citizens in the region.
In a statement released on X on Sunday, Dar said the evacuation of 450 Pakistani Pilgrims from Iran was completed on Saturday. He added that arrangements were also made on secure evacuation of the first batch of 154 Pakistani students stranded in Iran.
The Foreign Minister also stated that efforts are underway to evacuate and secure the Pakistanis stranded in Iraq.
“Our embassy in Iraq is in contact with the Pakistani Zaireen, which is stranded due to the closure of the airspace. Measures are underway to ensure their safe residence in Iraq and possible evacuation,” Dar said. A 24-hour crisis management unit (CMU) is active at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help Pakistani citizens. CMU can be reached on +92 51-9207887 or via e-mail at [email protected]. “Our embassies in the region carefully coordinate all necessary efforts to support Pakistani citizens and Zaireen,” he added.
In the early hours of Friday, Israel launched an attack on Iran that targeted the country’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military staff. The assault marked the beginning of what Israel described as a long -term military commitment that was carried out under the pretext of preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Seventy -eight people, including six nuclear researchers and senior generals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were killed in the attack. The semi-official Tasnim news agency identified the researchers as Abdulhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Seyyed Amirhossein Faqhi, Motablizadeh, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi.
Iranian ballistic missile attacks killed three people and wounded at least 91 over central Israel, in response to Israeli air strikes targeting key and military sites in Iran.
In the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, nine buildings were destroyed and hundreds of apartments were damaged, Haaretz reported. About 400 inhabitants were evacuated from the larger Tel Aviv area due to structural damage.
Visuals showed widespread destruction, including vehicles burned and flattened apartment blocks.
