Australia, New Zealand evacuate small number of citizens, diplomats from Israel, Iran

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia has evacuated a small number of citizens from Israel, and New Zealand embassy staff have left Iran, but the two governments warned that closed airspace limited how they can assist thousands of citizens requesting help to leave the conflict zone.

Around 1,500 Australians in Iran have registered for assistance, with another 1,200 Australians in Israel seeking to leave, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday.

The Australian government evacuated a small group from Israel through a land border crossing on Wednesday, and would look for more opportunities over the next day, Wong told reporters.

“There are real limits, hard limits, on what the government can do. The airspace remains closed,” she said.

Australians in Iran were advised to leave if it was safe to, or shelter in place.

“We’ve been hoping to get the capacity for aircraft to get in and out, but at this stage airports and the airspace are still closed. In Israel we have additional options, whereas in Iran it is very difficult,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in a radio interview.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand was doing all it could to help its citizens in the face of “very serious practical constraints”, and was providing advice on overland border exits.

New Zealand has temporarily closed its Tehran embassy and evacuated two staff and their family by land to Azerbaijan, he said.

“An opportunity arose overnight to get our embassy staff out of Iran, as part of a convoy alongside government officials from other countries,” he said.

   New Zealand’s consular partners are considering evacuation flights when air space reopens and the government is working closely with Australia, he added.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney and Lucy Craymer in Wellington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)