3,125 Chinese citizens evacuated from Iran; large-scale government-organized evacuation completed: FM spokesperson

3,125 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Iran, including a 10-month-old baby, a 70-year-old senior, and citizens from Hong Kong and Taiwan, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday when sharing the latest updates on the evacuation of Chinese citizens from Iran and Israel. 

As the Chinese nationals who are willing to leave Iran have all been safely evacuated, the large-scale and well-ordered evacuation of Chinese personnel in Iran has been completed by the Chinese government, said Guo at a regular press briefing on Monday. 

The spokesperson noted that the evacuation was acting on the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China's diplomatic and consular missions in Iran and other countries, the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Administration.

Guo stated that the China's Embassy in Israel helped and organized the evacuation of over 500 Chinese nationals from Israel to safety, and helped some nationals from the UK, India and Poland safely evacuate. "During the evacuation, countries, including Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt and Jordan, offered China valuable support. We express sincere appreciation for that," Guo said.

The world grappled Sunday with the US inserting itself into Israel's war by attacking Iranian nuclear sites, AP reported on Monday. According to the report, experts warned that worldwide efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons by peaceful means would be at stake in the days ahead, while fears of a wider regional conflict loomed large.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Iran early on Monday, as of Saturday, the vast majority of Chinese nationals in Iran have been safely evacuated, with the remaining few having avoided high-risk areas.

Fu Lihua, minister-counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Iran, said the embassy arranged for vehicles to transport Chinese nationals from Tehran and surrounding areas via land border crossings. The embassy staff have been on call day and night to answer assistance calls, assess the number of personnel, maintain contact with Chinese nationals, provide evacuation route guidance, and dispatch personnel to the Bajgiran border crossing between Iran and Turkmenistan to assist with customs clearance.

Fu said that as the situation rapidly deteriorated, the desire among Chinese citizens in Iran to evacuate grew stronger. The embassy quickly organized a total of 17 buses in four batches to evacuate Chinese nationals via land border crossings, and set up working groups at the Astara border crossing between Iran and Azerbaijan, where outbound personnel are concentrated.

The second flight which departed from Turkmenistan and carried 119 Chinese nationals evacuated from Iran arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport on Sunday morning.

"Still, some Chinese nationals choose to stay in Iran and Israel. Our Ministry reminds them to stay safe. Our colleagues in Chinese diplomatic and consular missions in Iran and Israel have stayed on their post, and will continue to do everything possible to offer Chinese nationals there assistance," Guo said at the Monday press conference.

Many Chinese nationals who have been safely evacuated from Iran thanked their motherland and shared their experience on social media platforms. One of them surnamed Liu was working on trade missions in Tehran and safely returned to Beijing after being evacuated by bus to Azerbaijan. 

Liu told the Global Times on Monday that he heard explosions during the early hours of June 13 while sleeping. At that time, Liu didn't perceive any significant danger nor believe the conflict would be prolonged.

However, Liu recalled that the situation escalated on June 16 afternoon when he could see smoke rising near his neighborhood. By June 17, seeing shops that had remained open in Tehran the previous day all closed down, Liu said he "grew genuinely frightened and started considering evacuation."

Through the overseas Chinese association in Iran, Liu paid 200 yuan and boarded an evacuation bus which departed from a Tehran Chinese hotel - Fardis Hotel - at 5 pm on June 17. Due to traffic congestion, what should have been a seven-hour journey to the Iran-Azerbaijan border at Astara port took until early morning of June 18, Liu told the Global Times on Monday.

"Staff from the Chinese Embassy in Iran came to coordinate our departure in the afternoon (of June 18), and we finally crossed at around 7pm. Azerbaijan-based Chinese embassy staff sent buses to transfer us to Baku, arriving at around 3am Thursday [June 19]," Liu recalled.

Liu said he had considered staying in Georgia or Baku, but the escalating situation made him decide to return to China immediately.