TOKYO:  Japan has ordered military planes to be on standby to evacuate its nationals from Iran and Israel, Tokyo’s top government spokesman HAYASHI Yoshimasa said Thursday.

“In view of the increasingly tense situation in the Middle East, we have decided to move Self-Defense Forces aircraft to Djibouti,” he told reporters.

Around 1,000 Japanese nationals are believed to live in Israel, and around 280 in Iran, defence minister Gen Nakatani said, citing the foreign ministry.

The Japanese embassies in Iran and Israel are preparing to use buses to evacuate citizens to neighbouring countries, Hayashi said, as the war entered its seventh day.

That could happen as early as Thursday, Hayashi added, declining to elaborate due to security concerns.

The C-2 transport planes will “be on standby in order to respond promptly, should transport of Japanese nationals become necessary”, Hayshi said.

Earlier, Japanese media reports said Tokyo was preparing to evacuate around 90 people, including Japanese nationals and their family members, from Iran by bus.

Officials were also preparing a separate operation to evacuate Japanese nationals from Israel to Jordan, Kyodo News reported on Wednesday evening.

AFP