2 Taiwanese evacuated from Bahrain amid Middle East tensions

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Two Taiwanese nationals have successfully left Bahrain on a charter flight arranged by the Japanese government, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Saturday, as part of ongoing efforts to help Taiwanese stranded in the Middle East return home.

The two Taiwanese nationals were accompanied on a land journey to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday by staffers from the Taipei Trade Office in the Kingdom of Bahrain, MOFA said in a statement.

Upon arrival in the Saudi capital, they were put on the same flight as a group of Japanese nationals Japan was also helping to evacuate, according to MOFA.

The flight chartered by Japan departed from Riyadh on Friday and landed at Narita International Airport in Tokyo on Saturday morning, MOFA said.

MOFA expressed its sincere gratitude to the Japanese government for the assistance provided to the Taiwanese citizens.

"As partners in the Indo-Pacific region ... this collaboration fully demonstrates the sincere friendship between Taiwan and Japan as they support each other in times of emergency," the ministry added.

The two nationals, who have reached Tokyo and are expected to return to Taiwan in a few days, are among the 486 Taiwanese citizens in the Middle East who have requested assistance from MOFA's overseas missions.

As of Friday, 1,935 nationals had returned to Taiwan since regional tensions escalated following strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran on Feb. 28, according to MOFA data.

Since then, MOFA has raised travel advisories in Israel and Iran to the red level -- urging those still there to leave immediately -- and placed neighboring Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait under an orange alert.

The ministry has advised that Taiwanese refrain from traveling to those countries for the moment.