Nearly 330 Russian citizens have been urgently evacuated from Iran through Armenian territory since the armed conflict broke out in the Middle East, according to a statement from the Russian Embassy in Armenia on March 28.
Nearly 330 Russians have left Iran safely and returned home through this route. This is considered one of the rare evacuation corridors still operating in the context of the region sinking into instability.
The evacuation operation took place after the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran from February 28. Many major cities, including the capital Tehran, have been attacked.
The US side said that the operation was aimed at dealing with missile and nuclear threats from Iran. However, the attacks quickly led to a strong military response from Tehran.
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a retaliatory operation, targeting targets in Israel, and attacking US military bases in many countries in the region such as Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Notably, in the US-Israel joint attack, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a number of other senior leaders were killed, increasing the risk of a full escalation.
Russia's urgent evacuation of citizens shows the increasing level of risk to foreigners in Iran, and also reflects the reality that the conflict is no longer limited to bilateral scope but is spreading throughout the Middle East region.
In that context, Armenia emerged as a strategic "escape gate", playing an important transit role for evacuation operations from the war zone.
