The Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities assured today that “everything is ready if necessary” to remove Portuguese expatriates from Israel, revealing that there are 47 Portuguese trying to leave Iran.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency about the Iranian attack on Israel on Saturday, José Cesário said that in Israel “there is a community of around 30,000 citizens with Portuguese nationality” and “some Portuguese expatriates on tourism or working”, in the latter case 13 people were mentioned.
According to José Cesário, the Portuguese government is “attentive to the evolution of the situation” and “everything is ready if an evacuation is necessary”.
He also stressed that this monitoring of the situation would be done in “conjunction with the European Union partners”.
As for the Portuguese who are in Israel and need support, he said that they should contact the Consular Emergency Office in Lisbon, by telephone, or the Portuguese Embassy in Israel.
For the time being, he advised, Portuguese citizens should refrain from traveling to the region in conflict and “those who are there should comply with the local authorities’ security guidelines”.
As for the Portuguese trying to leave Iran, no further details were given.
Israeli airspace, closed on Saturday night shortly before the Iranian attack on Israel, reopened at 07:30 local time (05:30 in Lisbon), the airport authority announced.
The airport’s website reports significant delays in both departures and arrivals.
Iran launched a drone attack against Israel “from its territory” on Saturday night, the Israeli army spokesman confirmed in a televised speech.
In a message on the social network X, the Iranian mission to the UN claimed that, “in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter on self-defense, Iran’s military action was a response to the Zionist regime’s aggression” against Iranian diplomatic facilities in Damascus.
Tensions between the two countries have risen in recent weeks following the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, in which seven members of the Revolutionary Guard and six Syrian citizens died.
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