ASTANA – More than 50 Kazakh citizens are still in Iran amid rising regional tensions, according to a statement delivered Monday by Aibek Smadiyarov, a spokesperson of Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry. The majority of them are diplomats.
Aibek Smadiyarov, a spokesperson of Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry. Photo credit: Foreign Ministry
Speaking at a June 23 press briefing in Astana, Smadiyarov confirmed that the Kazakh Embassy in Tehran remains operational and in close contact with the citizens.
“According to our data, there are around 50 of our citizens in Iran, and the majority are our diplomats. When we are asked when we would evacuate our embassy, I would like to note that if we evacuate it, who would help others? Our diplomats remain on the ground and continue their service,” Smadiyarov said.
“There are around 170 citizens of Kazakhstan in Israel. They can leave the territory at their own will. If they reach out to our embassy, we would definitely help them,” he added.
The statement follows last week’s evacuation of 230 Kazakh nationals from Iran and 66 citizens from Israel.
“Evacuation was taking place in very challenging circumstances. Our diplomats did their best. We have evacuated 230 [Kazakh] citizens from Iran and 66 from Israel. We transported citizens from Israel by bus to the border with Egypt. There, our colleagues from Cairo met us, then to Cairo, and then by an evacuation flight to Shymkent. From there, people flew to their cities,” Smadiyarov explained.
The government evacuated citizens from Iran via Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan. Smadiyarov highlighted the extraordinary measures taken to secure their safe passage.
“It was very difficult, at night, via mountain serpentines. People had to wait for 17 hours on a bus. Borders were closed. We used human and diplomatic resources to open the border at night, so that the Iranian border service would let them go, and other countries, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, would let us in,” said the official.
“We express gratitude to our colleagues from these countries,” he added.
Smadiyarov urged Kazakh citizens to be vigilant and avoid non-essential travel to the region.
“Therefore, before traveling to these countries for vacation, we strongly urge citizens to think carefully and make informed decisions. You bear personal responsibility for your own safety,” Smadiyarov said.
“That said, protecting the rights and interests of our citizens abroad is the highest priority for our diplomats, and we will provide all necessary assistance, but for that, it’s essential to listen to your government,” he added.
Kazakhstan issued a statement on June 22, following the United States’ strikes on three sites in Iran targeting the country’s nuclear facilities.
In a statement, Kazakhstan called on all relevant states to urgently develop a nuclear non-proliferation agreement and to ensure international security guarantees for nations committed to nuclear disarmament.
As a country that voluntarily renounced once the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal that it inherited from the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has been a strong advocate for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, a stance that is becoming increasingly urgent amid fears of wider escalation.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi convened an emergency meeting of the board of governors on June 23, warning that the “weight of this conflict risks collapsing the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.”
“But there is still a path for diplomacy. We must take it, otherwise violence and destruction could reach unimaginable levels and the global non-proliferation regime that has underpinned international security for more than half a century could crumble and fall. This is also what I said to the UN Security Council just a few hours ago. Iran, Israel, and the Middle East, need peace,” he said.
