UPDATE 2 - China, South Korea, Vietnam evacuate citizens from Israel, Iran

CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; ADDS CHINESE EVACUATIONS

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - China, South Korea, and Vietnam have begun to evacuate their citizens from both Israel and Iran amid the mounting conflict between the two countries.

So far more than 1,600 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Iran and hundreds of Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Israel, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference in Beijing.

Additionally, South Korea has evacuated 20 of its citizens and their family members from Iran via a land route. They arrived safely in the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

About 110 South Koreans were believed to be in Iran as of last Friday, and officials say preparations are underway for additional evacuations, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Eighteen Vietnamese citizens were also evacuated from Iran to a third country by Wednesday, reported the Tuoi Tre News, citing Vietnamese Ambassador to Iran Nguyen Luong Ngoc.

Separately, it was also reported that Japan is deploying two military planes to East Africa for a possible operation to evacuate its nationals from the Middle East.

The two C-2 transport airplanes of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, carrying about 120 personnel, will be dispatched to an SDF base in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa, and will remain on standby, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

The planes are expected to depart Japan on Saturday.

"The situation in the Middle East has become more strained as Israel and Iran continue tit-for-tat attacks," Defense Minister Gen. Nakatani said Thursday said, while stressing that the government "is still at the preparatory stage for a possible transportation" of Japanese citizens.

The ministry is seeking to confirm how many of the approximately 280 Japanese nationals in Iran and 1,000 in Israel want to flee the countries.

Japan is also planning to evacuate around 90 nationals and their family members by bus from Iran’s capital Tehran to neighboring Azerbaijan while also offering those living in Israel the option of evacuation to Jordan by bus.

Indonesia also announced plans on Thursday to evacuate its citizens from Iran. Malaysia has already urged its nationals in Iran to leave immediately by any available means, citing the highly volatile security situation.

Regional tensions have escalated since last Friday, when Israel launched airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.

Israeli authorities said at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks. According to Iranian media reports, 585 people have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded in the Israeli assault.

*Islamuddin Sajid contributed to this story from Pakistan