Iran has asked its citizens to leave Ukraine and cancel their travel plans to the country, citing increased military clashes there.
On Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement advising people to avoid traveling to or staying in Ukraine.
“Given the escalation of military conflicts and insecurity in Ukraine, all Iranian nationals are strongly advised to avoid travel to this country,” the brief statement says.
The statement also advises Iranian nationals in Ukraine to leave the country, noting that they can maintain contact with the Iranian embassy in Kyiv.
The announcement comes as the Ukrainian military prepares to launch an offensive against Kherson.
According to reports, four people were killed when Ukrainian rocket artillery struck a ferry crossing in Kherson late on Thursday. This is according to Moscow-appointed deputy regional governor Kirill Stremousov.
Regional authorities have talked about plans to evacuate around 50,000-60,000 people over the next six days amid escalating pressure from a Ukrainian offensive.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that Ukrainian and Russian military forces are gearing up for heavy battles in the area.
Russian authorities in Kherson said on Thursday that they had relocated some 15,000 people.
Allegations against Iran
In the midst of the fighting, Western countries are accusing Iran of supplying drones to Russia for the Ukraine conflict.
Tehran has dismissed the allegations as unfounded. “The claim that Iran sent missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine is unfounded. We have defense cooperation with Russia, but we do not send weapons or drones against Ukraine,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian posted on his Twitter account.
The European Union and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Iran on Thursday based on unfounded allegations of drone delivery.
Such allegations, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani, are “unfounded” and based on “misinformation and ill-intentioned presumptions.”
The anti-Iran claims first emerged in July, with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan alleging that Washington had received “information” indicating that the Islamic Republic was preparing to provide Russia with “up to several hundred drones, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline” for use in the war in Ukraine.
