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A total of 117 Iranians, including diplomats and embassy personnel, were evacuated from Beirut overnight aboard a Russian aircraft as tensions escalated following Israeli military operations in Lebanon, a Lebanese official said Sunday.
The aircraft departed Beirut between Saturday night and early Sunday, the official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) shortly after Lebanon imposed new restrictions on Iranian military activity in the country.
Lebanon's government earlier in the week banned all activity linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an organization that has long backed the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Separate reports said several dozen IRGC officers have left Lebanon in recent days to avoid potential Israeli attacks, according to Israeli defense officials cited by Axios.
Most of those leaving were members of the IRGC’s Quds Force, which advises Hezbollah and helps coordinate its military operations, with some reportedly operating from the Iranian embassy in Beirut. An Israeli defense official said the departures were expected to continue in the coming days, the report said.
The evacuations came as Israel pressed ahead with its military campaign in Lebanon, which began earlier in the week following joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian facilities.
Since then, Israeli forces have carried out a series of strikes across areas linked to Hezbollah as the confrontation widened across Lebanon.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Sunday that 394 people had been killed in Israeli strikes since the campaign began earlier in the week, with the toll expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.
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