Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has called for the Hungarian government’s assistance in the process of returning Iranian citizens from Ukraine through Hungary’s soil.
Amir-Abdollahian made the request in a phone conversation with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto on Friday.
“Iranian citizens, including students, families of diplomats, and other Iranians living in Ukraine, want to enter the Polish and Hungarian borders to return to Iran,” he said.
The chief Iranian diplomat expressed concern over NATO’s previous steps intended to create a crisis in Eastern Europe and underscored the need to support political solutions to the Ukraine crisis.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “special military operation” against Ukraine, urging Ukrainian government troops to immediately lay down their arms.
In a tweet later on Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian blamed NATO’s provocations for the current crisis, but added that resorting to war is not a solution.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeid Khatibzadeh said authorities in Tehran had asked for permission for one or several special flights from Ukraine to evacuate the Iranian nationals from various areas in the country.
“Of course, we will not wait for this as we are making all efforts on the ground and currently there is no problem for evacuation of Iranians from Ukraine,” Khatibzadeh said.
Top cleric calls for restraint
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, who led the Tehran Friday Prayers, said Iran’s policy with regard to the Ukrainian crisis and similar issues is to call for restraint by all of the countries involved.
“What we are concerned about is the killing of innocent people,” he said.
“In this incident, the provocative actions of NATO, led by the United States, have complicated the situation in the region,” Ayatollah Khatami said, adding that the Ukraine crisis is the result of Washington sticking its nose into all issues throughout the world.
He added that the US “wrongfully considers itself a superpower when it is not a superpower. On the other hand, in this issue, European countries are constantly beating the drums of war as if they think the war will [benefit them].”