BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 19. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced that Hungary has temporarily relocated its diplomatic mission in Iran to Baku amid heightened security risks, following a successful evacuation of Hungarian citizens and embassy personnel from Tehran, Trend reports.
"Several Hungarian citizens living in Iran requested that we evacuate them. This was a complex operation requiring careful planning, as there are currently serious missile and bomb attacks taking place in Iran, the country's airspace is closed, many people are leaving Tehran, and the transportation conditions are far from ideal," Szijjártó stated.
He said that, after thorough preparations, Hungarian authorities organized the evacuation by land. “Yesterday we organized the evacuation of Hungarian citizens who had requested to leave Iran by land, using private vehicles, heading toward Azerbaijan,” he noted.
According to the minister, “after waiting for 12 hours at the border in the early morning hours, we managed to transfer six Hungarian citizens into Azerbaijan.” They were met by staff from Hungary’s embassy in Baku on the Iranian-Azerbaijani border and have since arrived in the Azerbaijani capital, where repatriation is being arranged.
Following the successful evacuation, Szijjártó made the decision to withdraw all diplomatic staff and their families from the embassy in Tehran. “Since we were able to bring all Hungarian citizens who requested evacuation into Azerbaijan, I have decided to instruct all diplomats and their family members working at our embassy in Tehran to also leave Iran,” he said.
A total of 15 people, including children, crossed into Azerbaijan. “Thus, a total of 15 people, including children—staff members of the embassy and their families—have also crossed into Azerbaijan.”
“Until the security situation improves, the work of the embassy in Tehran will be temporarily carried out from Baku,” Szijjártó concluded, adding that the decision was made out of necessity “to protect the lives of our staff and their families, including children.”