As the war waged by the US and Israel continues in Iran, hundreds of Canadians continue to leave the region by air, bus and foot.
New numbers from Global Affairs Canada show 109,889 Canadians are registered with the government’s voluntary registration system.
Of that number, 9,185 people made requests for help – 5,267 people asked for help leaving the area. The requests come as Iran’s war targets expanded to civilian infrastructure over the weekend.
The agency noted that as of Sunday, no Canadians were known to have been injured or killed amid the conflict.
Bahrain accused Iran on Sunday of striking one of the Gulf countries’ critical drinking water desalination plants.
The same day, Saudi Arabia reported its first death, saying a military projectile hit a residential area, killing two people, an Indian and a Bangladeshi, and wounding 12 other Bangladeshis.
Foreign residents and workers have accounted for most of the war’s deaths in the Gulf countries.
The war, which began with an Israeli and US airstrike on Feb. 28 that killed Iran’s supreme leader, has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, officials said. Six US and two Israeli soldiers were also killed.
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Iranian President Massoud Pezheshkian has backtracked on comments he made a day earlier in which he apologized for the attack on the Gulf neighbor’s soil. At the time, Iranian hard-liners quickly contradicted him, saying the country’s war strategy would not change.
He echoed that stance on Sunday, saying the more pressure Iran put on it, the stronger its response.
“Our Iran, our country, does not bow down easily in the face of intimidation, oppression or aggression – and it never has,” Pezheshkian said. Despite US strikes coming from bases and ships in the region, he urged neighboring states not to participate in the attacks.
Canadians leave by plane, bus and foot: Global Affairs Canada
As the war intensified, Canadians in different countries asked for help in varying degrees.
Of the 9,777 Canadians registered in Qatar, 1,077 — about 11 percent — have asked the federal government for help.
Despite having the second highest number of Canadians registered at 24,101, only 389 – or 1.65 per cent – asked for help leaving Lebanon.
The largest number of Canadians registered in the region is in the United Arab Emirates, at 30,632. A total of 2,668 or 8.71 per cent sought help to quit.
The federal government said Sunday it continues to work to support the departure of Canadians from several Middle Eastern countries, including pedestrian land crossings, with 182 known crossings to date. The majority, 150 people, walked from Israel to Egypt and 32 from Iran to Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan.
“Consular officers are assigned to countries bordering Iran, including several located near Iranian borders to prevent any Canadians from crossing,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.
Ground and air transport are also utilized, with three transports taking place on the ground this weekend.
Four buses left Qatar for Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and Global Affairs Canada reported 54 Canadians on board. Three more buses are scheduled for Sunday, with a total of 47 Canadians on board.
The agency noted that 93 Canadians were on a chartered flight from Dubai to Istanbul on Saturday.
Canada has reserved hundreds of seats for Canadians on commercial flights departing from the Gulf region, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced Friday, saying that if Canadians don’t take them, the government will offer them to Europeans and others.
According to Global Affairs Canada, a total of 154 Canadians were traveling on four flights between Friday and Sunday. However, 72 passengers on two Beirut-to-Istanbul flights on Friday and Saturday sold tickets more than confirmed passengers, with confirmed numbers expected in the coming days.
A flight from Dubai to Toronto on Saturday confirmed 51 Canadians, while a flight from Beirut to Istanbul on Sunday carried 31 Canadians.
-WFiles by Prisha Dev and Jillian Piper of The Associated Press and Global News
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(tags to translate)Iran
