Latest news with #diplomaticstaff
The National
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
France examines sea options as it starts evacuating citizens in Iran and Israel via land
France is due to start evacuating its citizens in Iran and Israel by land, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday. Mr Barrot also said that he had asked the ministry's crisis and support centre to present options for French citizens in Israel, believed to number a few thousand, to leave via the Mediterranean Sea. The air space of a dozen countries in the region remains closed. The French decision comes days after some European countries made similar announcements. "In this situation, France's voice is clear: it is peace and security for all," Mr Barrot said, as he called on a ceasefire between Iran and Israel and in Gaza. French citizens in Iran were invited to travel to the Armenian or Turkish borders before flying to France. Those who cannot make it to the border by their own means will be accompanied by convoys "by the end of the week," Mr Barrot said. France, which will deploy civil servants at borders to help evacuees, will also organise buses for citizens in Israel to travel to Jordan and Egypt. "A flight will be chartered from Amman by the end of the week, depending on the opening of border crossings," Mr Barrot said. Yet diplomatic staff will not be evacuated, the minister added, saying they would remain on the ground "to support French communities, in Israel as in Iran, in the trying period that they are going through." Iranian strikes landed overnight "several dozen meters away" the French embassy in Tel Aviv, Mr Barrot said. Lithuania on Thursday evacuated non-essential diplomatic staff and their families from Tel Aviv after an Iranian missile landed 200 metres from its embassy. A number of countries, including the UK, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Hungary have also pulled out some staff and their families. The UK is planning for a 'variety of scenarios and contingencies' for Britons stranded in Israel as the US said it was looking at evacuating Americans using cruise ships and flights. Asked why the UK was not following the US example, a No 10 spokesman said: 'There's a huge amount of work being done in the background on contingency planning. It is a fast-moving situation and we keep all our advice and planning under constant review." Mr Barrot has been entrusted by President Emmanuel Macron to put forward a diplomatic initiative in the coming days, in co-ordination with European partners, aimed at proposing a negotiated settlement to end the continuing conflict between Israel and Iran. Details on the initiative are yet to be unveiled but Foreign Ministers from France, Germany and the UK – known as the E3 – are expected to meet their Iranian counterpart Abbas Arghchi in Geneva on Friday after a phone call on Monday. Mr Barrot did not confirm the meeting, despite an announcement earlier in the day from Iranian state media and European diplomatic sources. The EU's foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, is also expected to attend the talks. The E3 were the only European countries that took part in a failed 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran that collapsed when the US withdrew under President Donald Trump three years later. There is a "very strong unity" between Germany, the UK and France on Iran, Mr Barrot said. Should Iran acquire a nuclear bomb, it would represent an "existential threat" to Israel, the region, and Europe, Mr Barrot said. Iran insists its nuclear programme has civilian, not nuclear, goals. Israeli strikes on Iran, which started last Friday, were described by Israeli leaders as designed to prevent Iran from acquiring a bomb. Mr Barrot said France was keen to continue diplomatic discussions with Iran. "We stand ready, as we have done in recent months and years, to present a formula that guarantees the security interests of Israel, the region, and Europe, which concerns both Iran's nuclear programme, its ballistic missile programme, and its regional destabilisation activities," he said.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Foreign governments seek emergency exits for nationals stranded in Iran and Israel
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Iran-Israel conflict has shuttered airspace across the Middle East as the two bitter enemies launch attacks and reprisals at one another. The worsening security situation has seen foreigners scramble to evacuate. But, with so much travel disruption in the region, it's a tough task. Some governments are using Iran's land borders to get their nationals out. Others are advising their citizens on how to leave voluntarily or stay safe until an official exit plan is in place. Here's a look at evacuation efforts from Iran and Israel: Border buses and convoys Iran shares land borders with seven countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan. Italy's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it had evacuated dozens of its citizens from Iran in convoys heading to Azerbaijan and Turkey on Monday. Poland is evacuating some of its diplomatic staff from Tehran through Azerbaijan's capital, Baku. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the Russian Embassy in Tehran was working 'around the clock' to ensure nationals could leave Iran via a checkpoint on the border with Azerbaijan. 'All (Russian) citizens who are in Tehran and got in touch (with the embassy), for all of them the possibility of evacuating is being provided,' Peskov said during his daily conference call with the media. Moscow had earlier advised citizens to leave Iran and Israel by commercial means. The Russian Embassy in Tehran said several hundred people had already left Iran via the Astara border crossing into Azerbaijan, including the families of those working in Iran, members of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, and citizens from Belarus, Serbia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Peskov said that he was unaware of state-organized evacuations, but that such plans could be put in place if needed. The Astara crossing has also been used by citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Portugal, the Philippines and Finland. Pakistan has started voluntary repatriations from Iran by bus to land border crossings. Pakistani passport holders are barred from traveling to Israel. China said that its Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions in Iran and Israel had promptly activated 'emergency consular protection mechanisms' upon the outbreak of hostilities and was 'actively assisting' Chinese nationals seeking to leave. Third-country options Cyprus, the closest European Union country to Israel, says Portugal and Slovakia have asked for help in repatriating their citizens. Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Monday that his government has received informal requests from other governments about Cyprus' ESTIA plan, which provides for the brief accommodation of evacuated third-country nationals before their repatriation. Cyprus has acted as a transfer point for third-country evacuees following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, attack. In April 2023, Cyprus also assisted in the repatriation of U.K. nationals from Sudan. Turkmenistan is making its territory available for the departure of foreign diplomats and their family members, as well as other citizens in Iran. Those who have arrived so far have been given food, accommodation and other essential items, according to the Foreign Ministry in Ashgabat. Albania has thanked the Greek and Bulgarian Embassies in Tel Aviv, Israel, for helping Albanians who were in Israel for business and tourism. The Albanians are in Egypt and are expected to make their way home from there. Taiwan's government helped its citizens in Israel to leave by land for Jordan early Sunday on a bus that was arranged by Taiwan's representative office in Israel. Taiwan's representative office in Jordan is helping the Taiwanese nationals return home. Guidance and eventual help The French Foreign Ministry has urged citizens in Israel to be ''in a position to reach a shelter in a short time frame' and said there is a ban on any public gatherings and nonessential professional or educational activities. It has urged citizens to register with French authorities for eventual help. The ministry reiterated an earlier warning against nonessential travel to Israel and provides guidance on overland journeys to Jordan or Egypt. It also reiterated warnings against all travel to Iran. The Thai Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday advised nationals to leave the Iranian capital as soon as they could. It has set up a temporary shelter for Thai citizens in the historic Iranian city of Amol, which is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Caspian Sea. Thailand's government said that it's ready to evacuate Thai people in Israel and Iran if necessary, adding that no Thais have been injured in the ongoing conflict. The U.K. Foreign Office said that family members of staff at the U.K. Embassy in Tel Aviv and the U.K. Consulate in Jerusalem have been temporarily withdrawn as a precautionary measure. It advises against all travel to Israel and Iran, but hasn't ordered an evacuation. Instead, it advises people to 'register their presence' if they are in Israel or the Palestinian territories, and offers information on international land border crossings to Jordan and Egypt that are open. In Iran, having a British passport or connections to the U.K. can be 'reason enough' for authorities to detain someone, warns the Foreign Office. 'U.K. government support is extremely limited in Iran,' it said. 'Assume that no face-to-face consular assistance will be possible in an emergency.' ___ AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
Telegraph
12-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Reeves to cut allowances of British diplomats overseas
British diplomats based overseas will have their living allowances slashed by Rachel Reeves under plans to reduce costs. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is reviewing the payments made to embassy staff around the world after this week's spending review, which will force the department to make day-to-day savings of 7 per cent in real terms. Ambassadors and other senior diplomats will have their 'specific allowances' for overseas postings 'reviewed and revised' as part of the efficiency drive. Diplomatic sources told The Telegraph they now fear having to pay their own rent in foreign countries, if housing allowances are reduced. Foreign staff receive a variety of extra payments under the FCDO's 'Overseas Employment Framework', including a general allowance for working overseas, additional payments for spouses and 'danger money' for working in hostile countries. The department does not routinely publish the cost of overseas allowances, but a Freedom of Information request in 2017 revealed that the annual cost is in excess of £23 million. Diplomats subject to cost-cutting for two years Ms Reeves, the Chancellor, slashed administrative budgets of all Whitehall departments in her spending review on Wednesday, but the Foreign Office has borne the brunt of the cuts and will be forced to save £78 million a year. The latest spending figures also reflected a significant cut of the overseas development aid (ODA) budget, which is administered by the FCDO, to find an increase in defence spending. A 'departmental efficiency' document published alongside the spending review said the FCDO would 'reform the Overseas Employment Framework to modernise and simplify the end-to-end overseas allowance package for staff, streamlining provisions to make the system more transparent'. It added: 'Aspects of the package will be combined to reduce processing costs, while the monetary value of specific allowances are being reviewed and revised.' Diplomats told The Telegraph that they have faced cost-cutting measures for more than two years, and that hospitality expenses were now very closely scrutinised by the department. One said that even the cost of a cup of coffee with a diplomatic contact overseas would require extensive justification, and that many civil servants choose to pay for expenses out of their own pocket. Exact measures to be decided Other allowances, such as the policy to pay thousands of pounds a year for the children of diplomats to attend private boarding schools in the UK, have already come under scrutiny in recent years. In November, the FCDO wrote to top boarding schools to ask for the children of diplomats to be given discounts on their school fees, to offset the cost of Labour's tax raid on private schools. Foreign staff are usually given a generous stipend to pay for living expenses, to allow them to rent a property overseas while maintaining a home in the UK. But some choose to sell their homes in the UK when working abroad, allowing them to live without any housing costs while away on a posting. The Telegraph understands that the exact 'modernisation' reforms to diplomatic allowances have not yet been decided.
