Days of attacks and reprisals by the two enemies have shuttered airspace across the Middle East, severely disrupting commercial flights and leaving people unable to get in or out of the region easily.
Some governments are using land borders to get their citizens out by road to countries where airports remain open.
Thousands of foreigners have already left since the conflict started last week when Israel launched surprise missile strikes on Iran.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria has moved all its diplomats from Tehran to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, the Balkan country’s prime minister said Thursday.
“We are not closing the embassy, ??but moving it to Baku until the danger passes,” said Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
A group of 89 Bulgarians was evacuated from Israel by plane to Sofia, along with 59 nationals from Slovenia, the US, Belgium, Albania, Kosovo and Romania.
They left from the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where they had been transferred by bus across the border from Israel.
He said the government had urged all Bulgarians willing to join the convoy to do so. They set off in 11 vehicles on Wednesday morning.
“There were alternatives. They could travel via Turkey, but eventually we decided that they should go via Azerbaijan,” Zhelyazkov added.
China
China said it has evacuated more than 1,600 nationals from Iran and “several hundred others” from Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing would continue to do its “utmost to assist in the safe transfer and evacuation of Chinese citizens.”
Aell Huang, who was in the Iranian city of Isfahan, said he didn’t feel safe during the conflict. “I heard explosions from time to time. Civilians got hurt too. I got more prepared mentally once I saw the embassy’s warning.”
He and some friends hired a car and headed to Azerbaijan, waiting at border control for almost 12 hours, where he saw as many as 60 other Chinese nationals.
The Chinese Embassy said it would organize group evacuations by bus from Israel starting Friday.
A notice posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account said citizens would be taken out through the Taba border crossing to Egypt. It asked them to register online and said they would be notified of the evacuation time.
People carrying Chinese, Hong Kong, and Macao passports were eligible, the notice said.
European Union
The European Union has helped evacuate some 400 people from Israel via Jordan and Egypt as part of its efforts to coordinate an emergency response within the 27-nation bloc.
“Member states coordinate the list and we co-finance these flights up to 75 per cent of the transport costs,” European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told a regular press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
Hrncirova said the E.U. was fielding requests by Slovakia, Lithuania, Greece, and Poland for assistance with Middle East evacuations.
France
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday it was helping nationals who want to leave Iran and Israel to do so through neighboring countries where commercial flights were still available.
Barrot said people in Iran could travel to Armenia and Turkey without a visa. Those unable to reach the border on their own would be “transported by convoy by the end of the week” so they could take commercial flights to France.
French nationals wanting to leave Israel can go via Jordan and Egypt. From Friday morning, some buses will carry passengers from the Israeli border to Amman and Sharm el-Sheikh airports.
Germany
Germany flew 171 people out of Amman on a special flight on Wednesday. A further 174 people returned on Thursday and another flight is planned this weekend.
Passenger Daniel Halav, who was stuck in Tel Aviv, said he had “never been so glad to be home” after landing in Frankfurt, the German news agency dpa reported.
But, he said, “we had to take care of ourselves of how we got to Amman. From my point of view, we were left a bit alone there.”
The German Foreign Ministry said officials had decided against organizing convoys to get people to Amman, arguing this move could have created a security risk and that those wishing to leave were scattered across Israel.
