Hundreds of foreigners flee from Iran to neighboring Azerbaijan

2026-03-03 - 10:03

BAKU — Up to 400 people have been evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan since Saturday, including 101 Azerbaijanis and others from 19 countries including China, Russia and Pakistan, Azeri sources said on Monday. The Astara Border Crossing between Iran and Azerbaijan has seen increased traffic over the last few days by foreign nations, as many continue to seek to leave Iran amid continued US and Israeli attacks. The increased crossing traffic comes after the Azerbaijani government announced on Saturday that it would open the crossing to enable its nationals trapped in Iran to safely evacuate, as well as allow foreign nations to transit through. Iran and Azerbaijan share a 689-km (428-mile) border, and Iran has a large ethnic Azerbaijani population. Moscow has advised its citizens to move to safer areas in Israel and Iran and recommended that those in Iran leave via Armenia or Azerbaijan.As many as 500 Russian citizens are rumored to have crossed into Azerbaijan as part of the new initiative, with eyewitnesses reporting seeing large groups passing security checkpoints. Russia's embassy in Baku said on Sunday that about 500 Russian nationals were preparing to evacuate from Iran to Azerbaijan via the Astara crossing on the Caspian Sea, with 39 having crossed by the end of Sunday. Among those crossing on Monday was a Pakistani family, who had made the long and tough journey from the Iranian capital to Azerbaijan's southernmost city, carrying as much of their belongings as they could gather in suitcases, which they dragged with them the entire way. “We were living in Iran. So, we came here by road until the border region. From there, crossed the border”, said Rameeza, a young Pakistani girl who travelled with her brother and parents. Exact figures of how many people have crossed since Baku moved to open the crossing is unclear. It is estimated however that at least 370-400 people were safely evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan since Saturday. Those estimates include over 100 Azerbaijani nationals, with the rest being expats from almost 20 different countries, including ,France, Italy, Poland, Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. — Agencies