������Ƶ

MANILA: The Philippines is struggling to evacuate its nationals from Iran as exit routes are difficult to secure, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday, as an increasing number of them are seeking to leave amid growing destruction from Israeli bombardment.

The Philippine embassy in Tehran estimating that some 700 Filipinos live in Iran. Most are married to Iranian nationals and initially were not willing to leave when the attacks started last week.

“But now, some are saying they’re scared, so they’re asking for help to get out. The problem we’re facing in evacuating them is that — because of the war — many airports are closed,” Marcos told reporters in Quezon City.

“We’re looking for a route through which we can get them out.”

Following Israeli attacks, Iran has suspended flights at major airports. Neighboring countries such as Iraq and Jordan have also closed their airspace, making air evacuations nearly impossible

Some countries are evacuating citizens by land via Azerbaijan and Turkiye, but these journeys are long due to distance, heavy traffic, fuel shortages and potential Israeli strikes.

The Philippine government is also planning to pull non-essential personnel out of the embassy in Tehran and raise the alert level for nationals in Iran to “voluntary repatriation phase,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose De Vega told the Philippine News Agency.

“We cannot raise it to mandatory because most of the Filipinos there won’t go home anyway, they have Iranian families there,” he said.

Israeli attacks on Iran began on Friday, when Tel Aviv hit more than a dozen Iranian sites — including key nuclear facilities and the residences of military leaders and scientists — claiming it was aiming to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Daily attacks have been ongoing for the past six days after Iran retaliated with ballistic missile strikes against Israel.

The Israeli military has intensified its bombing of civilian targets, hitting Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran and a hospital in Kermanshah. On Wednesday alone, it said it had hit 40 sites across the country.

According to the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, at least 224 people have been killed and 1,481 wounded in the attacks since Friday; however, various media outlets report casualty numbers could be at least twice that many.

New Delhi

India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has embarked on a two-day visit to the UK to accelerate talks on a long-pending bilateral free trade agreement, his office said on Wednesday.

Launched in January 2022, the FTA negotiations between India and the UK were set to conclude the same year, but despite more than a dozen formal rounds, talks have stalled over issues like tariffs, rules of origin and mobility for services professionals.

A deal-in-principle was announced in May by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart, Keir Starmer.

Goyal’s UK visit comes in the “backdrop of the announcement” and “aims to accelerate bilateral engagements and harness emerging opportunities,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

The minister is scheduled to meet UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to “review the progress made in the ongoing FTA negotiations and chart out a clear, time-bound road map for its finalization and implementation.”

If Goyal’s visit succeeds in producing an implementation road map with timelines, he would be able to start negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty with the UK, Anupam Manur, professor of economics at the Takshashila Institution in Bangalore, told Arab News.

“A working FTA for India is extremely important, especially in a scenario where global trade uncertainty is at an all-time high due to the trade war and tariffs imposed by President Trump,” Manur said.

“In this scenario, an FTA with the UK delivers greater certainty to India, provides market access to an important large economy, and will also act as a leverage point for trade negotiations with the US.”

India has so far signed 14 free trade agreements with 25 countries, along with several regional and preferential trade pacts covering additional nations. These include agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the UAE.

Talks are also ongoing with the Gulf Cooperation Council and the EU — with commitments to conclude talks in 2025.