Latest information on the operation to evacuate Bulgarian citizens from the Middle East and Iran

07 March 2026 News

According to information from the Situation Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as of 9:30 a.m. on March 7, 2026, assistance has been and continues to be provided to the following number of Bulgarian citizens within the framework of the operation:

For UAE:

A total of 1,207 citizens have been evacuated so far: through the Crisis Headquarters - 953; through tour operators - 254.

On March 5, 2026, at 02:15, a flight of the State Aviation Operator from Abu Dhabi landed in Bulgaria with 85 people on board;
On March 5, 2026, at 03:30, a special flight of Gulliver Airlines from Dubai landed in Bulgaria with 326 people on board;
On March 5, 2026, at 7:45 p.m., a special flight of Bulgaria Air from Dubai landed with another 180 people on board;
On March 7, 2026, at 5:45 a.m., a flight from Dubai operated by Gulliver arrived in Sofia with another 326 people on board.

Upcoming charter flights from Dubai to Bulgaria:

A Bulgaria Air flight on March 7, 2026, organized by a tour operator for 180 people;
Charter flight on March 7, 2026, for 180 people with the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism;
Charter flight on March 7, 2026, for 220 people with the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism.

For Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia:

The airspace over Kuwait remains closed. In recent days, there has been a significant increase (40 people) in the number of Bulgarian citizens requesting assistance with evacuation from Kuwait. On March 6-7, two groups of six Bulgarians will be transported by land from Kuwait to Riyadh and then by commercial flight to Sofia.
At present, Qatar's airspace has been declared open, with a limited number of flights available on March 7.
According to information from the Embassy in Doha, several groups of Bulgarian citizens are expected to travel by land to Riyadh today (March 7). From there, they will travel to Bulgaria on commercial flights;
A plan is being developed to evacuate Bulgarian citizens in cooperation with allied and partner countries;
A total of 21 Bulgarian citizens were evacuated on an Austrian flight from Riyadh to Vienna under the EU cooperation mechanism (14 from Bahrain, 6 from Saudi Arabia, and 1 from Qatar).

For Iran:

On March 4, 2026, the land-based staff of the Bulgarian Embassy in Tehran was evacuated (total: 10 people - 6 employees/4 family members);
The Embassy in Baghdad is providing crisis assistance to a Bulgarian citizen who wants to leave Iran. She has reached the Merhan border crossing point but is currently stranded there as the crossing is closed on the Iranian side due to technical problems;
A total of 48 Bulgarian citizens and 14 Iranian family members are currently residing in the country.

For Israel:

International civil airports in Israel remain closed. For this reason, the only options for departure at this time are by land routes;
14 Bulgarian citizens staying in Israel on a short-term basis were transported with the assistance of another EU Member State by land route across the border with Egypt to Sharm el-Sheikh Airport; Two other Bulgarian citizens were assisted in leaving Israel by land to Amman airport and by air to a European destination.

For Oman:

On March 5 at 5:50 p.m., a Bulgaria Air flight landed from Salalah with 111 people on board (1,000 km from the capital Muscat). Another 7 people left Oman with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on individual routes.

For Jordan:

A total of 130 Bulgarian tourists travelling with tour operators received assistance from the Bulgarian Embassy.

For Iraq:

We managed to evacuate 20 Bulgarians by land across the border with Turkey or Jordan. At present, there are no Bulgarian citizens to be evacuated from Iraq.