Vietnam urges Middle East parties to refrain from conflicts

"Vietnam pays attention to and expresses deep concerns with regards to recent developments in the Middle East," spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang said at a regular press meet.

She was responding to inquiries about Vietnam’s reaction to the explosion of numerous devices in Lebanon over the past two days.

Vietnam calls for relevant parties to refrain from and stop conflicts, as well as bolstering communication and resolving conflicts through peaceful methods, in accordance with international law and the U.N. Charter, for the sake of people’s interests, peace and stability in the region and the world.

Vietnam’s representative agencies in Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and Israel said Vietnamese citizens living in the aforementioned regions remain safe. Agencies in Egypt are monitoring the situation and preparing citizen protection measures, including evacuation, Hang added.

Hang said Vietnamese citizens in the aforementioned countries need to keep themselves updated on announcements by local authorities, as well as warnings from the foreign ministry and Vietnamese representative agencies in order to have timely responses.

Thousands of pagers exploded in Lebanon on September 17, killing at least 12 people and injured more than 2,800 others. A day later, several hand-held radios used by armed group Hezbollah also exploded, resulting in at least 20 deaths and 450 injured people.

Hezbollah accused Israel to be behind the incident. Tel Aviv did not have comments on the matter.