China Prepares To Evacuate Its Citizens From Iran And Israel

JAKARTA - The Chinese government is preparing to evacuate its citizens from Iran and Israel after the attack on the two countries since Friday (13/6).

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy and related consulates are working with relevant departments to fully ensure the safety of Chinese nationals in Iran and Israel, as well as immediately regulating the evacuation process for Chinese citizens," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, June 17.

On Friday (13/6) morning, the Israeli armed forces (IDF) launched a large-scale operation dubbed Rising Lion aimed at a number of key figures of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), nuclear scientists to Iran's nuclear program military facilities.

Iran then launched Operation True Promise III with the aim of a military target in Israel on Friday (13/6) night. Then on Saturday (14/6) night, Iran launched a second wave of True Promise III operations targeting economic and industrial facilities in the Israeli port city, Haifa.

"Currently some Chinese citizens have been successfully evacuated safely to neighboring countries," added Guo Jiakun.

Chinese citizens who are still in Iran and Israel are also advised to contact the embassy or consulate or contact the consular protection hotline 12308.

"After the outbreak of the conflict between Iran and Israel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as Chinese embassies and consulates in Iran and Israel immediately activated an emergency mechanism for consular protection," said Guo Jiakun.

The Chinese government, Guo Jiakun said, demanded that the two countries seriously guarantee the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in a timely manner to issue warnings and related guidelines and continue to maintain close communication with Chinese citizens and institutions in the region.

"The embassy and consulate also provide guidance on security and emergency evacuation measures, as well as actively providing assistance for Chinese citizens who will be evacuated," said Guo Jiakun.

The Israeli Air Force carried out several waves of attacks in various parts of Iran, including Tehran, in which several senior Iranian military officials were killed, including the chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff and commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as several nuclear scientists.

Several nuclear facilities, including Natanz and Fordow, and Iran's military positions in various parts of the country were also attacked.

The IRGC then launched Operation True Promise III with the aim of the military's target in Israel in response to the Israeli attack on Friday (13/6) night. Then on Saturday (14/6) night, Iran launched the second wave of True Promise III operations, primarily targeting economic and industrial facilities in the Israeli port city, Haifa.

Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said 224 people were killed and 1,481 people in Iran injured, more than 90 percent were civilians, based on data three days after the Israeli attack.

On Sunday (15/6), Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was ready to halt attacks on Israel if Tel Aviv also stopped its attack on Tehran.

He also said Iran responded to the incident by increasing uranium enrichment by up to 60 percent and replacing damaged centrifuges with more sophisticated models.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said "there is a possibility that we could engage" in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran and admitted that it would be "open" to the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin becoming a mediator in the Israeli-Iran conflict.

"He's ready. He called me to talk about it. We've had a long discussion about it," Trump said.

Trump and Putin held telephone talks on Saturday to discuss Iran.