Irish citizens advised not to travel to Israel after Iran drones strike back

Irish citizens have been advised against travelling to Israel following airstrikes on Iran.

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste said they were “deeply concerned” after Israel launched strikes on Tehran early yesterday, targeting the country’s nuclear programme and rekindling fears of a full-scale conflict.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has warned that Israel should expect “severe punishment” in response, and it was reported yesterday that drones had been launched.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said stability was needed and called for diplomacy.

“I call on all in the Middle East to exercise the utmost restraint and to avoid further escalation,” he said. “The region and the world need stability.

“Diplomacy must be the only way forward.”

Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Simon Harris said the “alarming” development meant there was a risk of “regional spillover”, which would be “disastrous”.

Travel advice 

Mr Harris said they had updated travel advice to warn citizens against travelling to Israel.

“We have already travel advice in place for Irish citizens not to travel to Iran, and today we’re extending that travel advice to advise against any travel to Israel,” he said.

“For all Irish citizens, we’re keeping in very close contact with our diplomats on the ground in both Iran and Israel, and they’re obviously keeping in close contact with the relatively small number of Irish citizens in those countries as well.”

De-escalation 

Mr Harris said “around 17” long-term residents in Iran are Irish citizens. He said he hoped the US and Europe would call for a de-escalation.

“We need to find a situation where the whole temperature is de-escalated, and what’s happened is extraordinarily alarming, extremely dangerous, and people need to step back from the brink now.”

Mr Harris said the Middle East “desperately needs peace and stability”.

“Further escalation would bring a very real risk of regional spillover. This would be disastrous for all the peoples of the region. A negotiated solution is needed to address Iran’s nuclear programme.”