The Irish Embassy in Tehran has been evacuated and consular offices in Israel and Palestine have been closed, with staff working remotely, amid a “deteriorating situation” in the region.
All four Irish staff members have now been evacuated from Tehran, with ambassador Laoise Moore and one other leaving the country by road on Friday as Iran’s airspace remains closed.
They reached a neighbouring country by about 6pm Irish time and are expected to return to Dublin in the coming days.
The pair evacuated the city as part of a convoy of other European diplomats who have taken similar moves due to rising safety concerns in recent days.
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Two other Irish staff members were evacuated earlier this week with plans to operate the embassy remotely from Dublin until a de-escalation.
While evacuations are not currently being considered for Irish staff based in Israel and the West Bank, it is understood this is being kept under review on a near-hourly basis.
In the meantime, the embassy’s office in Tel Aviv and the representative office in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah have been closed to the public due to heightened security risks, with staff now working remotely.
“The public offices will reopen when circumstances permit,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The evacuation of Irish staff from Tehran comes as the conflict between Israel and Iran worsens with fears of an escalation into a regional war.
Both countries launched air strikes on Friday as the conflict entered its second week. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.
At least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded following Iranian strikes.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said he had become “increasingly concerned” about environment in which the embassy in Tehran was functioning and the ability of diplomatic staff to work safely.
“It is in light of the deteriorating situation, following consultation with my officials and in very close consultation and co-ordination with EU partners, I have now decided to temporarily relocate our personnel from Tehran,” he said on Friday.
Mr Harris said the relocation of staff was “not a decision that I have taken lightly”.
He reiterated advice that Irish citizens should not to travel to Iran or Israel.
“Citizens who live there and who wish to leave might consider departing through one of the land borders that is open, as long as it is safe to do so,” he said.
[ Israel warns of ‘prolonged campaign’ against Iran as Europeans push for truceOpens in new window ]
On Friday, Israel’s military chief warned of a “prolonged campaign” against Iran, even as European foreign ministers met their Iranian counterpart in an effort to end the war and convince the Trump administration to stay out of the conflict.
Lieut Gen Eyal Zamir told Israeli soldiers on Friday that “the campaign is not over” despite strikes that have targeted Iran’s nuclear sites, hit Iran’s missile launch capabilities and killed many of its military commanders.
As he spoke, the foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany were in talks in Geneva with their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi to press for a deal to resolve the decades-long stand-off between Iran and the West over Tehran’s expansive nuclear programme.
