Armenia and Azerbaijan have received a total of approximately 1,500 evacuees from Iran, according to reports from pro-government media outlets and international news agencies. Azerbaijan, which has maintained a closed land border with Iran since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, reportedly received just under 1,200 individuals. Among these evacuees, only four were identified as Iranian nationals, while the majority were foreign citizens, including 361 Chinese, 246 Russian, and at least 99 Tajik nationals. Additionally, 224 of the evacuees were Azerbaijani citizens. A separate report from Azerbaijan’s state media noted that 21 additional people were evacuated via the Astara border crossing with Iran on Wednesday, including individuals from Tajikistan, Pakistan, China, and France. The closure of Azerbaijan’s land border, which has been extended multiple times since the pandemic, has been cited as a reason for the limited movement of people through the region. Armenia, meanwhile, received 400 evacuees from Iran between Monday and Tuesday, with 300 of them being Iranian nationals. According to Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik, the evacuees were fleeing Iran through the Meghri border checkpoint, which has been a key route for cross-border movement. Sputnik also highlighted that Iran’s airspace remains closed, prompting many to seek alternative routes for evacuation. Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan has officially disclosed the number of border crossings from Iran since the conflict with Israel and the United States escalated in late February. The situation has raised questions about the humanitarian impact of the ongoing tensions, as civilians continue to move across borders in search of safety or to return to their home countries.#iran #armenia #azerbaijan #meghri_border_checkpoint #astara_border_crossing
