Middle East tensions: MEA asks Indian nationals to avoid travel to Iraq

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday (January 8) issued an advisory asking Indian nationals to avoid travel to Iraq until further notification in view of the prevailing situation in the Middle East. 

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affair, Raveesh Kumar, advised the Indian nationals to avoid travel to Iraq, and tweeted, "In view of the prevailing situation in Iraq, Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Iraq until further notification. Indian nationals residing in Iraq are advised to be alert and may avoid travel within Iraq."

He further said, "Our Embassy in Baghdad and Consulate in Erbil will continue to function normally to provide all services to Indians residing in Iraq."

Meanwhile, the government sources have informed ANI that all Indian carriers have been asked to avoid the airspace of Iran, Iraq and the Gulf following tension in the region.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation tweeted, "We had held meetings with the concerned Airlines and have sensitized them to remain vigilant and take all precautions."

Notably, Tehran has launched retaliatory short-range ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq that house American troops. Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday said that his country took `proportionate measures in self-defence` and that it does not seek any escalation or war. 

"Iran took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defence under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens and senior officials were launched. We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression," Zarif said in a tweet.

In another incident today, with 180 passengers and crew onboard a Ukranian airplane have been killed, an Iranian emergency official told state television, shortly after it crashed near the airport in Tehran.

The plane, said to be a Boeing 737, is suspected to have crashed near Iran’s International Imam Khomeini airport – from where it had taken off – due to technical issues, media reports said.

The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq housing US forces in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ General Qassem Soleimani.

(With Agency Inputs)