ISLAMABAD: Around 2,000 Pakistani students have been evacuated from Iran amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, federal minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhary said on Tuesday.
Thousands of Pakistani students study in educational institutions across Iran, which has been rocked by conflict since the US and Israel carried out coordinated strikes against it on Feb. 28. Iran has retaliated with missile and drone attacks against Israel and US military bases in Gulf countries, and closed off the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply passes.
Islamabad has attempted to repatriate its citizens fleeing Iran and other Gulf nations since the conflict began last month. Pakistan announced earlier this month it has designated Baku as an evacuation base for its citizens seeking safe transit amid the Iran conflict.
“The National Assembly was informed today that two thousand Pakistani students have been evacuated from Iran in view of the current tensions in the Middle East,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
The information was shared by Chaudhary, who is the federal minister for parliamentary affairs. Chaudhary was responding to a calling attention notice by lawmaker Natasha Daultana and others.
The minister said Pakistan’s embassy and consulates in Iran are working “round the clock” to provide all possible support and emergency assistance to Pakistani nationals.
While US President Donald Trump has said the war in Iran could end “very soon,” Tehran has said it is deploying projectiles in greater numbers, and with warheads weighing more than one ton.
Iran also launched new attacks on Tuesday at Gulf countries, with missile sirens sounding in Dubai and Bahrain early morning while Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two drones over its oil-rich eastern region. Kuwait’s National Guard said it had shot down six drones on Tuesday.
Brent crude, the international standard, spiked to nearly $120 on Monday before falling back but was still at around $90 a barrel on Tuesday, nearly 24 percent higher than when the war started on Feb. 28.
