TEHRAN - Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has offered explanations on the Iranian nationals stranded on along the Belarus-Lithuania border, saying that the Iranian embassy in Belarus was instructed to follow the issue immediately after being notified of the matter.

Khatibzadeh said the embassy contacted the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and other relevant authorities to gain more information about the stranded Iranians and to resolve their predicament. Khatibzadeh stated that the Iranian embassy in Minsk called on the relevant Belarusian bodies to help it gain access to the Iranians on the border and to immediately address their situation, according to the Iranian foreign ministry. 

According to Khatibzadeh, given the urgency of the matter, the Iranian embassy also made an effort to directly contact the stranded Iranians. He said Iran’s ambassador to Minsk managed to talk on the phone to one of them and that a team from the embassy was sent to the Belarus-Lithuania border to pave the way for the returning of the Iranians to their country. Khatibzadeh added that the team is now in the border area and in collaboration with the regional border authorities is trying to end the predicament of those people as quickly as possible. 

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said the embassy has been in constant contact with the relevant Belarusian bodies and has conveyed Tehran’s serious concern over the situation of the Iranian nationals in the border area to the Belarusian party. He noted that the Foreign Ministry also pursued the matter through the Belarusian embassy in Tehran. 

Khatibzadeh said Iran is confident that the Belarus government will offer sufficient and necessary help to resolve the problem in line with friendly ties between Tehran and Minsk. He noted that the Iranian Foreign Ministry will also continue pursuing the issue seriously.