Thailand's PM says it is preparing evacuation of citizens in Middle East

The government has "coordinated with the Royal Thai Air Force to prepare aircraft to evacuate Thai citizens, prioritizing those in Iran," Anutin told reporters in Bangkok, adding that charter flights were also under consideration.

"We have to check the closure of airspace, whether we need to evacuate them to the third country first," he said.

Evacuation plans "have been prepared should the need arise, and may involve coordination with other countries or international organizations that are likewise preparing their own evacuation arrangements," he said.

More than 20,000 Thais resided in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with thousands more in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and other Gulf nations, according to the ministry.

Nearly 59,000 Thais were registered with Thailand’s labor office in Israel, and more than 11,000 were registered with Thailand’s labor office in Abu Dhabi – which covers the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Iran, according to the labor ministry.

The United States and Israel began launching waves of strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, sparking swift retaliation by the Islamic republic.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to continue striking Iran until its government falls.

Iranian state television confirmed the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 1, after Trump said he had been killed.

Fresh explosions were heard in Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Manama on March 1.

Amid the bombardments, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE and Israel all have closed their airspaces to civilian traffic, at least in part, and multiple airlines have canceled flights to and from the region.