22 Indonesian Citizens Return from Iran
The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu RI) has registered 22 Indonesian citizens (WNI) evacuated from Iran who have returned to Indonesia.
The group arrived on Tuesday afternoon through a flight operated by Turkish Airlines via Baku, Azerbaijan, landing at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Soetta) in Tangerang, Banten.
The Indonesian citizens returned after undergoing a lengthy evacuation process carried out by the Indonesian Government. These 22 WNI were part of the first wave of the evacuation operation.
“This afternoon, 22 WNI have returned in the first wave. Tomorrow, 10 more will depart from Iran,” Foreign Minister Sugiono stated at Soetta Airport.
He explained that the evacuation process will continue into a second wave with 36 additional WNI who have registered for repatriation to Indonesia.
“We at the Foreign Ministry are conducting very close coordination with our representatives in that country,” Sugiono said.
According to him, the government continues to monitor the condition of Indonesian citizens through embassies and representations located in various conflict zones.
However, the government also expects all WNI wishing to be repatriated, particularly from Tehran, Iran, to inform the embassy of their situation.
“Day by day, hour by hour, we assess the situation and we endeavour to encourage WNI to be repatriated,” he said.
Sugiono acknowledged that during the evacuation phase, the Foreign Ministry has prioritised safety and careful calculation, including security situation factors, rules of each national authority and logistics.
“We also consider regulations issued by local authorities, logistics, evacuation routes, which countries have open airspace and which have closed airspace, which routes must be taken, and so forth,” he explained.
The Foreign Minister revealed the difficulty of evacuating Indonesian citizens from Iran due to airspace closures. He also noted that Indonesia is intensifying dialogue with Iranian authorities to ensure the safety of two Pertamina tanker ships detained in the Strait of Hormuz.
Beyond encouraging all parties to exercise restraint, Indonesia is also urging that tensions be reduced immediately and that negotiations proceed through dialogue.
The escalating conflict in the Middle East is showing widening escalation, a situation that is also raising concerns about the fate of Indonesian citizens.