BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Two repatriation flights chartered directly by the European Commission landed in Polish capital Warsaw on Thursday, bringing back 303 European citizens who were stranded in the Middle East.
This adds to the more than 70 flights coordinated by the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Center, which together brought more than 8,000 European citizens home from the war-torn region to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden.
Departing from Saudi Arabia and Oman, the latest two flights to Warsaw transported 227 Polish nationals and 76 citizens from other European countries who had been stranded in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. For the second time, the Commission mobilized its own transport capacity under rescEU, following a request from the Polish authorities.
The European Commission said more repatriation flights, including with rescEU planes, are planned in the coming days, as a total of 23 countries have requested EU assistance in repatriating their citizens from the Middle East.
Meanwhile, BBC reported an explosion near a pro-Iranian government rally in Tehran Friday after Israel launched fresh attacks in the capital.
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. forces are 'totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise.'
'Iran's Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth,' he wrote on Truth Social Friday.
'We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time - Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.'
He claimed it is a 'great honor' to be killing members of the Iranian regime.
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