A total of 49 Cypriot nationals who had been in the Middle East when the conflict between Iran and Israel began last week have now been successfully evacuated, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

Exactly 43 Cypriot nationals have left Israel, while six have left Iran.

The ministry said its efforts are continuing to evacuate as many Cypriot nationals and their family members as possible, with the ministry in Nicosia “working in coordination” with the Cypriot embassies in Tel Aviv, Tehran, Amman, and Yerevan.

It reported that eight Cypriots and their family members left Israel by land into neighbouring Jordan on Friday morning, and that they are expected to board a flight from Aqaba, located on Jordan’s Red Sea coast, on Friday night.

In addition, it said, two individuals departed Israel by ship, while the sixth Cypriot national who left Iran overland by crossing into Armenia will board a commercial flight from the country’s capital Yerevan.

The ministry said it will “continue its coordinated actions for the repatriation of citizens who have filed requests, while also providing consular assistance through the competent embassies to those citizens who are in the wider Middle East region”.

Earlier, the Cyprus News Agency had verified that the sixth Cypriot in Iran had arrived in Armenia, and that the five Cypriots who had earlier been taken overland from Iran to Armenia in a convoy have since left the country.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos had said on Wednesday that the repatriation of the five who had arrived in Armenia earlier in the week was “a matter of finding the necessary seats on commercial flights from neighbouring countries”.

Meanwhile, CNA reported that nine Cypriots and their family members who had been in Israel have since been repatriated to the island via Athens.

This comes after a total of ten people who had crossed by land from Israel into Egypt boarded a Greek Air Force flight which landed at the Elefsina airbase, which is located near Athens.

It was also reported that the Cypriot nationals who remain in Israel “are in contact with the authorities to find the appropriate time to exact their safe departure”.

The foreign ministry said it is “continuing to provide consular assistance to Cypriot nationals in Israel” through its embassy in Tel Aviv, and also directed Cypriots in Israel and the wider Middle East to register their presence via the government’s online platform, www.connect2cy.gov.cy.

Cypriots in Israel can contact the Cypriot embassy in Tel Aviv either at 61 Dizengoff Street, Top Tower 14th floor, 6433233, or by calling +972 3 927 3000, or +972 54 887 4433.

Assistance is also being provided by the foreign ministry’s crisis management centre, which can be contacted via the telephone number +357 22 801000 or +357 97 775998, and by the ministry’s consular affairs directorate, which can be contacted by telephone at +357 22 651113.

The government also pointed out that the Estia plan is “in full swing”, with a total of 205 non-Cypriots having departed the Middle East via Cyprus in conjunction with the plan.

Two official requests were submitted to activate the plan, one from Slovakia and one from Portugal, and both have since been executed, with a Slovak military aircraft having flown to Cyprus from Jordan and then onwards on Wednesday.

On Thursday, an aircraft operated by Portugal’s national airline Tap Portugal touched down at Larnaca airport from Lisbon at around 3pm, picking up Portuguese nationals and their families from Larnaca, and then departing to make the return journey an hour later.