More than 600 foreign nationals have crossed from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan since Israel began striking the country last Friday, a government official in Baku said.

“Since the start of the military escalation between Israel and Iran, more than 600 citizens of 17 countries have been evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan,” the government source told AFP on Tuesday.

The evacuees, who crossed the border via the Astara checkpoint on the Caspian Sea coast, are being transported to Baku airport and “flown to their home countries on international flights,” the source said.

Among those evacuated are citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China, and Vietnam.

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Azerbaijan shut its land borders in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has kept them closed ever since.

“In light of the evacuation need, Azerbaijan has temporarily opened its border for those leaving Iran,” the official said.

Poland’s foreign ministry said it would evacuate part of its embassy staff in Tehran via Baku.

“We have decided to evacuate or support the departure of staff who do not need to remain in the country, so-called non-essential personnel,” Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Moscicka-Dendys told reporters.

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“Our colleagues will try to reach the border with Azerbaijan,” she said, without specifying how many people were involved.

Turkmenistan — one of the world’s most closed-off countries — said it had also allowed the transit of around 120 people evacuated from Iran through its territory, mainly citizens of Central Asian countries.

Israel has launched unprecedented strikes on Iran since Friday, saying it aims to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon — a goal Iran denies pursuing.

The Israeli attacks have killed at least 224 people and wounded more than 1,000, according to an official toll released Sunday.

In retaliation, Iran has carried out multiple attacks that have killed at least 24 people in Israel since Friday, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

AFP

Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, on Monday, signed a new law allowing civilians to be tried in military courts that critics said could be used against opposition leaders ahead of next year’s election.

The new law comes despite a ruling by the Supreme Court in late January that it was unconstitutional for civilians to be tried in military courts as was the case for opposition leader, Kizza Besigye.

Besigye, 69, was abducted by armed men in Nairobi in November and re-emerged a few days later at a military court in Uganda, where he was charged with treason, which carries a potential death penalty.

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Following the Supreme Court ruling, his case was moved to a civilian court.

But the new law provides for “exceptional circumstances” under which civilians can be subjected to military law, including the “unlawful possession of arms, ammunition or equipment,” one of the other charges Besigye is facing.

The signing of the law was announced by Uganda’s parliament on X.

Besigye’s lawyer, Erias Lukwago, told AFP that the law was designed to facilitate the “illegal detention and trial of Besigye and others”.

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Besigye has been in jail for more than the six-month legal limit for detention without trial.

Uganda’s other major opposition leader, Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, told AFP, “All of us in the opposition are being targeted by the Act.”

Human rights lawyer and activist, Eron Kiiza — who was jailed by a military court for six months for alleged misconduct while defending Besigye — said he would legally “challenge the Act”.

Rights groups said Besigye’s abduction and trial for treason were linked to the election in January when 80-year-old Museveni will seek to extend his 40 years in power.

AFP

…says “lawless attitude” of Netanyahu’s govt “poses threat to international system

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of threatening security in the Middle East during a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, his office said.

“The spiral of violence that began with Israel’s attacks on Iran has put the security of the entire region at risk,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.

His office said he told Putin that the “lawless attitude” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “poses a clear threat to the international system”, adding that the Middle East “cannot tolerate a new war”.

READ ALSO: Netanyahu Says Israel’s Strikes On Iran Have ‘Clear Support’ Of Trump

The Kremlin said Putin and Erdogan used the conversation to call for an “immediate” end to fighting between Israel and Iran.

“The leaders called for an immediate end to hostilities and the settlement of contentious issues, including those related to Iran’s nuclear programme, exclusively through political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin said in its readout of the call.

Turkey has stepped up its diplomacy since Israel launched aerial attacks on Iran last Friday and Tehran struck back on the weekend, in their most intense confrontation in history.