Lisbon, Mar. 6, 2026 (Lusa) - The Secretary of State for Communities, Emídio Sousa, said on Friday that the authorities are considering organising a new repatriation flight for Portuguese citizens from the Middle East, departing from Saudi Arabia.
"We are considering all the ways in which we can help. It could be through another flight, which we will consider organising, or through another flight from a European country," Emídio Sousa explained to the media at Figo Maduro Airport.
”Today, throughout the morning, our services will contact people to see who wants to come, so we can see whether it is possible to organise this flight. And the Air Force is already planning it," added the Secretary of State.
Sousa acknowledged that a trip to Riyadh ”is also relatively risky at the moment,“ but said that with Qatar's airspace closed, ”the only solution is to travel by land, by bus or car, to a safe point."
The official was speaking after the landing of a military plane from the Omani capital, Muscat, with 39 passengers, 24 of whom are Portuguese and 15 foreigners (from France, Greece, Brazil, and Israel), as part of a repatriation operation.
Sousa praised the “remarkable work” of the Air Force and consular services, “which have worked tirelessly” in an operation that lasted “almost 25 hours” and crossed “extremely dangerous areas.”
The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence announced on Thursday that a repatriation operation is underway for 186 people, almost all of them Portuguese, with arrival scheduled for today.
According to a joint statement from the two ministries, the operation involves a C130 aircraft from the Portuguese Air Force and an A330 aircraft chartered from TAP Air Portugal.
The chartered flight is carrying 147 passengers, of whom 139 are Portuguese, and eight are foreigners (from Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Peru), with an estimated arrival time of 11:00 a.m., the secretary of state added.
Emídio Sousa confirmed that Portugal has activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism to organise the repatriation of Portuguese citizens in the Middle East.
On 28 February, the United States and Israel launched a military attack against Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader since 1989, during the offensive.
The Iranian Leadership Council is currently leading the country.
Iran launched retaliatory attacks against targets in Israel, US bases, and other infrastructure in countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, and Iraq.
In addition to Turkey, incidents involving Iranian projectiles have also been reported in Cyprus.
Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 1,000 people have been killed, most of them Iranians.
VQ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
