ISLAMABAD: Islamabad has evacuated 103 Pakistanis and a Croatian national through the Gabd-Rimdan border crossing with Iran on Monday, an official in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province said, bringing the total evacuation of Pakistanis to 650 over the last two days.
The influx at the Gabd-Rimdan crossing, close to Balochistan's Gwadar port city, comes as Islamabad coordinates a massive repatriation effort following joint US and Israeli strikes against Iran, which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tehreen has launched counterstrikes against Israel and US bases in Gulf, with thousands of students and travelers stranded in the country.
Gwadar Deputy Commissioner Naqeebullah Kakar, who is overseeing the repatriation operation through land routes, told Arab News that the evacuees who arrived on Monday included 58 students from Iranian institutes such as Sanjana University of Medical Sciences, Al-Mustafa University, Damghan Medical Sciences University and Kerman University.
“Rising tensions have prompted a large number of Pakistani students studying in Iran to make their way to the Gabd-Rimdan border,” Kakar said. “Today, 104 Pakistani citizens, including 58 students from various Iranian universities, crossed the border and returned home.”
The development came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Saturday directed authorities to ensure safe evacuation of Pakistani nationals from Iran.
More than 3,000 Pakistani students are currently enrolled in various institutions across Iran, according to Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran Muhammad Mudassir Tipu.
The country has evacuated about 650 Pakistanis from Iran in the last two days.
“We are guiding and facilitating every Pakistani national seeking our advice on a variety of issues amidst a complex security environment,” Tipu said on X.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Embassy in Azerbaijan said Islamabad had designated Baku as an evacuation base for nationals seeking safe transit as the conflict in Iran rages on.
Tipu thanked Iran and Azerbaijan’s border authorities for extending cooperation for the “execution of a complex and multi-tiered operation.”
