China evacuates 1,600 from Iran and hundreds from Israel, warns of border congestion

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on the IRIB building, the country's state broadcaster, in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

BEIJING  -  China has evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and hundreds more from Israel, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday, as evacuees clog border crossings amid the intensifying conflict between the two countries.

Evacuation efforts are continuing and China has maintained communication with Iran, Israel, Egypt and Oman, spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference while calling for immediate measures to cool down tensions as soon as possible.

China urges parties to the conflict, especially Israel, to immediately cease fire, Guo said.

Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as the conflict showed no signs of a detente nearly a week after Israel first launched what it called "pre-emptive strikes" against Iran.

The Chinese embassy in Iran renewed calls for citizens to leave the country via land routes, while also warning people about longer immigration processing time as congestion has formed at two border checkpoints - Astara heading into Azerbaijan and Bajgiran into Turkmenistan.

Those border crossing points are 490km (304 miles) and 910km away from Tehran, respectively.

Chinese people can also leave Iran via Turkey, Armenia and Iraq, the embassy advised.

Earlier on Thursday, China's embassy in Israel said it will begin evacuating people in batches from Friday, taking those who want to leave to the Taba Border Crossing into Egypt via bus, about 360 km from Tel Aviv.

 (Reporting by Laurie Chen, Shi Bu and Liz Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Toby Chopra // REUTERS)