TEHRAN- In a statement issued on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that 65 Iranian citizens had been safely evacuated from Sudan, which has descended into turmoil as a result of the outbreak of hostilities between opposing factions.

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for the foreign ministry, said the ministry has been actively pursuing arrangements to evacuate 65 Iranian citizens living in Sudan since the beginning of the crisis in the African nation.

“The Iranian nationals were successfully relocated from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, to Port Sudan and subsequently to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after the appropriate preparations were made,” he added.

The official also mentioned that plans had been made to return the nationals to Iran from Saudi Arabia and thanked both Saudi Arabia and Sudan for their effective assistance with the evacuation.

Many nations are organizing risky evacuations of their personnel and other residents using a variety of convoys, flights, boats, and frantic getaway drives. 

A number of nations have closed their embassies in Sudan.

Conflicts between the head of the army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also serves as the chairman of the ruling Sovereignty Council, and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Hemedti), caused the situation in Sudan to worsen.

Armed battles between the opposing military factions broke out on April 15 in and around Khartoum’s city and the military camp in Merowe. 

Sudan’s health ministry reports that since the crisis started, more than 600 people have lost their lives.