Japan urges its nationals in Iran to evacuate amid Israeli attacks
Japan on Tuesday raised its travel alert for the whole of Iran to the highest Level 4, advising nationals to "evacuate and avoid all travel" as Israel's attacks have been intensifying since last week, Kyodo reported.
The move comes after the Foreign Ministry issued Friday the second-highest Level 3 advisory for most of Iran to urge Japanese citizens to "avoid all travel." Some of the country's areas bordering Iraq and Pakistan were already under Level 4.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said at a press conference that the government is also considering evacuation operations for Japanese people from Iran and Israel, possibly in cooperation with third countries.
"The situation has become increasingly strained, so we will stay on guard to protect our nationals," Iwaya said, while calling on all parties to exercise "utmost restraint" and refrain from any action that could lead to further escalations.
The Foreign Ministry has also provided about 20 Japanese citizens living in Tehran with information about safer places to evacuate to, following Israel's offensive on Monday night, a government official said.
On Friday, Israel said it had attacked nuclear and military targets in Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes by Tehran. Highly dependent on crude oil imports from the Middle East, Japan has traditionally maintained friendly relations with both Iran and Israel.
As it was previously reported, on June 17, the U.S. Embassy in Israel announced "it is not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel."