New Zealanders in Lebanon and Iran should leave now while options remain available, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has warned.
In a social media post, Peters also said those in Israel should consider “whether they need to remain in the country”.
Iran has sworn “severe” revenge against Israel after Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was last week assassinated, along with his personal bodyguard, at a guesthouse in Tehran, where he was visiting to attend the inauguration of President Massoud Pezeshkian.
More than 100 New Zealanders have registered on New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (MFAT) SafeTravel website to be in the region: including four in Iran, 100 in Israel and 24 in Lebanon.
A MFAT spokesperson strongly advised New Zealanders in those three countries to register on SafeTravel, remain security conscious, monitor local media and stay informed of developments.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accused Israel of masterminding Haniyeh’s killing with backing from the US, saying it was by a “short-range projectile” launched from outside Haniyeh’s accommodation.
However, the New York Times reported Haniyeh was killed by a bomb that had been planted at his room for up to two months by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and detonated from outside Iran.
Israel would receive “a severe punishment at the appropriate time, place and manner,” the IRGC said. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia group in Lebanon, also pledged retaliation.
The US embassy in Beirut has urged its citizens to leave Lebanon on “any ticket available” and those who chose not to leave should prepare contingency plans for emergency situations, as additional American warships and fighter jets were deployed to the area.
The foreign ministry from nearby Jordan also told its citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately, while the UK is already preparing for possible evacuations of British citizens from Lebanon.
New Zealand’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.
By Justin Wong
Source Stuff.co.nz