(Adnkronos) – Up to 2,500 Italians are being repatriated from the Gulf area after being stranded there amid the widening conflict in the region between Iran, the United States and its ally Israel, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.
‘Between 2,300 and 2,500 (Italians, ed.) are returning from the Gulf area, including Saudi Arabia. I believe that around 2,500 people will have left the Gulf tonight. We will continue tomorrow, with transfers from Bahrain and Qatar to Riyadh and transfers from Dubai to Oman,” Tajani said.
The situation is “very complex” with around 60,000 Italians stranded in other parts of the world – from Hong Kong to Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Maldives and the Seychelles – due to Gulf countries’ closure of their air space, Tajani told public broadcaster Rai earlier on Tuesday.
“All our embassies, consulates and consulates have been mobilised to assist Italians,” Tajani said.
Late on Tuesday, an initial group of officials will be flown to Muscat, Oman, as part of efforts to bolster staff at embassies and consulates in the region, Tajani said. Premier Giorgia Meloni has asked a for a group of diplomatic staff, paramilitary Carabinieri policemen and tax police officers to be deployed as well as a civil protection expert to support regional embassies, according to a foreign ministry statement.
