Foreign Minister Outlines Plan to Evacuate Indonesian Citizens from Iran via Azerbaijan

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono revealed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is arranging the evacuation process for 15 Indonesian citizens in Iran who want to be evacuated. Sugiono opened the possibility that the evacuation could be carried out via Baku, Azerbaijan, because the air route in Iran is still closed. “Because the airspace is also closed. If the evacuation from Tehran then they have to be taken to Baku. From Tehran to Baku that is a 10-hour journey,” Sugiono said at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta, Tuesday (3/3/2026) evening. “That needs to be calculated first in terms of logistics, whether the people are healthy enough, and so on and so on. So we can’t today say we want to evacuate immediately and move them at that second,” he said. Therefore, Sugiono has not yet confirmed when the evacuation will take place. “Yes, this is being arranged, the timing,” Sugiono said. Sugiono said that not all Indonesians in affected areas want to be evacuated; so far only 15 Indonesians in Iran have asked to be repatriated. “From all Indonesians in the affected areas, not all of them then express a desire to be evacuated. But as was said, there are a few who are willing to be evacuated from Iran and I have ordered to carry out the phased evacuation,” he said. Sugiono continued, besides the 15 Indonesians in Iran, there have been no other Indonesians in other affected countries who have requested evacuation. “Those who request evacuation we evacuate, you know it’s not possible to move someone who doesn’t want to be moved,” he said. “In Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, in Bahrain. None have expressed desire to be evacuated yet. These are the 15 (in Iran) who have expressed willingness to be evacuated,” he added.