(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani held fresh talks with the ambassadors of several Middle East countries on Tuesday after an overnight drone attack on the Emirates’ Consulate in Kurdistan’s capital Erbil and ongoing attacks on military installations in Iraq where the situation remains “complex”, said a foreign ministry statement. Tajani also received an update from the ambassador to Sri Lanka on the situation in the Maldives, where at least 6,600 Italians were stranded amid the widening US-Israeli war on Iran have now been repatriated, the statement said.
There are now “a very limited” number of Italians in Iraq, and all citizens who expressed the need to leave have been helped to do so, the statement continued.
The Maldives, Italy’s envoy is currently in Male and, with the Honorary Consul and embassy staff “is continuing to assist Italian nationals” with “a constant presence” at the airport, said the statement.
Conflict continues in Lebanon with “widespread raids across the country,” including the southern suburbs of Beirut, and nearly 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, according to officials. Italian soldiers from the UNIFIL mission are continuing ground patrols “with enhanced protection measures,” the statement went on.
“The Italian embassy in Beirut remains fully operational to assist Italian nationals, subject to security and safety conditions. Beirut International Airport remains open and operational, including for flights to Italy,” the statement added.
Tajani is “closely monitoring the evolving situation in the Strait of Hormuz global oil transport route, where maritime traffic continues to be severely restricted, with only a few ships passing through each day, the statement noted.
“Serious concerns” remain about the potential repercussions on navigation safety and the stability of energy markets, the statement concluded.
