TEHRAN – The Iranian embassy in Ukraine has issued a warning about the possible spillover of the war in Ukraine to neighboring Moldova and urged Iranian nationals residing in the country to leave.

The warning came after tensions soared in the breakaway region of Transnistria, Moldova, causing concerns about the widening of the conflict currently raging on in Ukraine. 

In a statement released on Monday, the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Ukraine and its accredited embassy in Moldova asked all Iranian citizens in Moldova’s Transnistria to leave that region immediately considering the continuation of the war in Ukraine and the possibility of the spread of conflict to that region, Tasnim reported. 

“Given the continuation of the war in Ukraine and the likelihood of a spillover of the war into the Transnistria region in the Republic of Moldova, all Iranian citizens residing in the forgoing region are requested to leave that region at the earliest opportunity,” the embassy said.

“Those fellow (Iranian) citizens residing in the Republic of Moldova whose continued presence in that country is not necessary for the current circumstances are requested to leave the Moldovan territory,” the statement said. 

The Moldovan authorities say they are sensitive to any sign of growing tensions in Transnistria, an unrecognized Moscow-backed sliver of land bordering southwestern Ukraine, especially since Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24.