175 Russian staff leave Iran nuclear plant for Moscow

Russia said Tuesday that 175 more employees who were evacuated from an Iranian nuclear plant have left for Moscow.

The staff from the Bushehr plant crossed into Armenia via the Nurduz-Agarak border crossing and left on a special flight on Monday, the Russian Embassy in Armenia said.

A total of 509 Russian citizens have returned through Armenia since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran, the embassy said.

Moscow expressed its “deep gratitude” to Armenia for the safe evacuation of state-run Rosatom employees, the statement added.

On Sunday, Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev said most Russians working at the Bushehr had been successfully evacuated and that another wave of evacuation is planned for next week.

Last month, Russia began evacuating its personnel from the plant due to escalating regional tensions, which started after the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, which has killed more than 1,400 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, as well as Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets. Iran has also restricted the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.