Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, through Foreign Minister Sugiono, has ordered preparations to evacuate Indonesian nationals from Iran amid rising tensions between Iran and Israel.
The move follows the government’s decision to raise the alert level at the Indonesian Embassy in Tehran from Level 2 to Level 1, signaling a heightened state of readiness.
“Over the past two days, the intensity of the conflict has increased, with not only military but also civilian targets being hit. As a result, I have decided to raise the embassy’s alert status in Tehran to Level 1,” Sugiono told reporters during an official visit to Russia, as conveyed by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday (June 19).
“We have begun implementing contingency measures, including evacuation plans for Indonesian citizens,” he added.
Sugiono said Indonesia is in communication with several of Iran’s neighboring countries to ensure a smooth evacuation process.
“We’ve reached out to some of Iran’s neighboring nations to ask for their cooperation in allowing our citizens safe passage across borders when the evacuation begins, given the increasingly unfavorable situation,” he said.
“We also hope this tension will soon de-escalate,” Sugiono concluded.
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Judha Nugraha, Director for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens at the Foreign Ministry, previously stated that there are 386 Indonesian nationals in Iran and 194 in Israel.
Since open conflict erupted between Iran and Israel on June 13, countries around the world have rushed to evacuate their citizens from both nations. The escalation began when Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, citing threats from Iran’s advancing nuclear program. Tel Aviv targeted military and nuclear facilities in Iran, reportedly killing several senior military officials and nuclear scientists.
In retaliation, Iran initiated Operation True Promise 3, intensifying its strikes and breaching Israel’s highly advanced Iron Dome missile defense system.
In response to the mounting violence, several European Union countries began evacuating their citizens from Israel via Jordan. Russia has relocated its citizens from Iran to Azerbaijan, while China has evacuated nearly 800 nationals from Iran and plans to move thousands more overland in the coming days.
(Raidi/Agung)
