Tehran, April 11: Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has expressed the Islamic Republic’s readiness to transfer Lebanese nationals from Ivory Coast to Beirut.
Salehi made the remarks in a telephone conversation with his Lebanese counterpart Ali al-Shami on Sunday, IRNA reported.
“A number of Iranian airplanes are ready to transfer the Lebanese nationals from Ivory Coast’s southern city of Abidjan to Beirut,” said the Iranian foreign minister.
The Lebanese official, for his part, expressed gratitude over the humanitarian offer.
Many of the 9,000 Lebanese nationals who live in Ivory Coast want to return to their country due to safety concerns following the clashes in Abidjan, reports say.
Earlier on Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the country’s diplomats in the Ivory Coast were transferred by French troops to safety.
The clashes between supporters of Ivorian president-elect Alassane Ouattara and incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo has escalated in Abidjan, which has been the center of clashes between the rival groups.
The fighting erupted after Gbagbo declared himself the winner of November presidential election and refused to sign a document, as demanded by the UN and France, to recognize Ouattara’s victory.
Several hundred people have been killed in recent violence, while up to a million have been displaced, according to UN reports.
——-Agencies