Passengers, who had left Israel on June 17, 2025, aboard the Crown Iris cruise ship due to the closure of Israel’s airspace amid the Israel-Iran war, board a bus after their arrival at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, June 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

Israel on Wednesday launched a phased airlift operation to bring home its citizens, after the country’s military strike on Iran closed air space across the Middle East, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stuck overseas.

The first rescue flight, operated by national carrier El Al, touched down at Tel Aviv Airport early Wednesday morning, returning passengers from Larnaca, Cyprus.

Worldwide, Israel‘s transport ministry estimates that more than 50,000 Israelis, stranded after airlines halted flights to the country, are trying to come home.

Foreign citizens have also been fleeing Iran overland. China started evacuating its citizens from Tehran to Turkmenistan by overland bus on Tuesday. Hundreds of other foreign nationals fled to neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan.

El Al has said repatriation flights are already scheduled from Athens, Rome, Milan, Paris, Budapest, and London. Smaller carriers Arkia and Israir are also taking part.

“We are very emotional about receiving the first rescue flight as part of ‘Safe Return,’” Transportation Minister Miri Regev told the captain of the arriving El Al flight.

While many Israelis want to come back, around 38,000 tourists are stranded in Israel, with much of the country in lockdown, and all the museums and holy sites closed.

The US embassy in Jerusalem said on Wednesday it was organizing evacuation flights and ship departures for US citizens who wanted to leave, while the Tourism Ministry said it would start coordinating flights out for foreigners.

Around 1,500 Americans on a Jewish heritage program were evacuated overnight to Cyprus via a cruise ship, which will now sail back with Israeli citizens aboard.

“We didn’t sleep for nights on end. We are all very exhausted and it’s a sigh of relief,” said Dorian, 20, from New York, after he had disembarked.

“In Israel, I was very afraid. I was never used to anything like that. Sirens, missiles, or anything like that. New York is pretty much very safe, and this was new to me.”

Iran has fired more than 400 ballistic missiles at Israel since Friday, triggering air raid sirens and a rush to bunkers. At least 24 people, all civilians, have died so far in the strikes, according to Israeli authorities.

Iranian officials have reported at least 224 deaths, mostly civilians, though that toll has not been updated for days.

CYPRUS HUB

Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport has been closed to passenger traffic since Israel launched its pre-dawn attack on Friday and commercial aircraft are sitting out the war in foreign airfields.

The Airports Authority reinforced staffing on Wednesday to ensure arriving passengers left the airport quickly. Relatives were advised to avoid travelling to pick up family members for security reasons.

The airlift is being carried out in stages, based on risk levels and security assessments, a spokesperson for the Airports Authority said.

Large numbers of Israelis seeking to get home have converged on Cyprus, the European Union member state closest to Israel. Flights from the coastal city of Larnaca to Tel Aviv take 50 minutes.

Nine flights were expected to depart Cyprus on Wednesday for Haifa, and four for Tel Aviv, carrying about 1,000 people, sources at Cypriot airport operator Hermes said.

The carrier Arkia asked customers abroad to remain patient. “Tens of thousands of Israelis are still waiting to return home, and we are doing everything we can to bring them back quickly and safely,” it said in a statement.

Cruise operator Mano Maritime, whose “Crown Iris” ship carries 2,000 passengers, has said it will make two crossings from Cyprus to Israel‘s Mediterranean port city of Haifa.

The post Israel Launches Airlift to Bring Home Stranded Citizens After Iran Strikes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Photo: Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS

Russia is telling the United States not to strike Iran because it would radically destabilize the Middle East, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday, and Moscow said Israeli strikes risked triggering a nuclear catastrophe.

Russia signed a strategic partnership with Iran in January and also has a relationship with Israel, although it has been strained by Moscow’s war in Ukraine. A Russian offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict has not been taken up.

Ryabkov, speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum in St Petersburg, told Interfax news agency Moscow was urging Washington to refrain from direct involvement.

“This would be a step that would radically destabilize the entire situation,” Interfax cited Ryabkov as saying, and criticizing such “speculative, conjectural options.”

The head of Russia‘s SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, has said the situation between Iran and Israel is now critical and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure meant the world was “millimeters” from catastrophe.

“Nuclear facilities are being struck,” she told Reuters, adding that the UN nuclear safety watchdog had already noted specific damage.

“Where is the [concern from the] entire world community? Where are all the environmentalists? I don’t know if they think they are far away and that this [radiation] wave won’t reach them. Well, let them read what happened at Fukushima,” she said, referring to the 2011 accident at the Japanese nuclear plant.

Israel says it has struck Iranian nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran developing an atomic weapon. Iran denies seeking nuclear arms.

RUSSIAN OFFER TO MEDIATE

In a 20-year strategic partnership pact signed in January by President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Russia did not undertake to help Tehran militarily and is under no obligation to do so despite the countries’ close military ties.

Putin, who has already lost an important partner in the Middle East with the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad last December, spoke to US President Donald Trump by phone on Saturday. He offered Moscow’s services as a mediator, which Trump said he was open to before demanding Iran‘s “unconditional surrender.”

A source familiar with US internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options including joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, has said the conflict – though opposed by Russia – could yield some benefits to Moscow including higher oil prices, more appetite from China for Russian oil because of difficulties sourcing Iranian oil and a reallocation of US military resources away from Ukraine.

The post Russia Tells US Not to Strike Iran, Warns of Nuclear Catastrophe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Smoke billows following missile attack from Iran on Israel, at Tel Aviv, Israel, June 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Gideon Markowicz ISRAEL

If you are using social media, you have likely encountered many false narratives surrounding the Israel-Iran war. Here is what you need to know:

Myth 1: Israel is trying to drag America into a war where its soldiers will die

Reality: Israel does not desire a protracted action and seeks no ground invasion. At most, it would ask America to give it a bunker-buster bomb to hit the Fordow nuclear facility, which is the best protected and underground nuclear facility in Iran. America could also choose to bomb Fordow itself — not at Israel’s behest. Israel has already attacked the Natanz nuclear facility.

Myth 2: Israel launched this war due to its aggressive and violent nature

Reality: Iran has been attacking Israel for almost 40 years, and has been using its proxies of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and others in order to create a ring of fire around Israel. Iran was responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre through its support of Hamas, as well as every Hezbollah atrocity against Israel. And it was Iran itself that started the direct war between the two countries. In April, Iran launched 300 projectiles, including 170 drones and 120 ballistic missiles at Israel. Last October, it launched 200 ballistic missiles.

Myth 3: The Iranian people are against Israel

Reality: The majority of the Iranian population hates the repressive regime in Iran. In September 2022, 22 year-old Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for not wearing a hijab. Witnesses reported she was beaten in custody. Protests ensued, and human rights groups reported that Iran’s security forces killed more than 400 protesters. These follow many protests and uprising in the past against the mullahs.

Iranian civilians obviously don’t want to be hit by Israeli fire, but Israel has chiefly targeted military locations. If a certain number of Iranian civilians were killed, that attitude could potentially change.

Myth 4: Prime Minister Netanyahu has been saying Iran would have nuclear weapons for many years, so he cannot be trusted on this point

Reality: The first part is true, as Iran has been working on its nuclear program for decades. It has lied, and been caught lying, numerous times in the past. The only reason to enrich uranium past 60 percent is for military purposes.

In addition, things on the ground have changed. Iran has seen its proxies weakened and has become more desperate. Iran never before fired hundreds of missiles at Israel, as it did in 2024 and 2025, and may have been surprised at Israel’s ease in repelling the attack, and also disabling Iran’s air defenses. President Trump has also confirmed that he believes Iran was truly coming close to building a nuclear weapon.

Myth 5: Iran and President Trump were about to make a deal, so Israel sabotaged it by attacking the Islamic Republic

Reality: President Trump gave Iran 60 days to negotiate, and Trump has now said the Iranians didn’t negotiate seriously or in good faith. That’s why he allowed the Israeli attack to go forward on day 61.

Myth 6: Because some Iranian missiles got through Israel’s defense systems, those systems are a failure

Reality: No matter how advanced any system of intercepting projectiles is, there is no such thing as 100 percent accuracy in war. Drones, which are slow and take many hours to get to Israel are easier to shoot down. Ballistic missiles fired from Iran can reach Israel in 10-15 minutes, and pack a good amount of explosives that can do tremendous damage, even wiping out a block.

Myth 7: This is only about Iran’s nuclear program

Reality: Iran’s ballistic missiles also pose a huge threat, as we have seen in recent days, and Israeli attacks have knocked out some of the rocket launchers. Israeli officials report that Iran wanted to expand its ballistic missile arsenal from 2,000 to 8,000.

Myth 8: Israel’s attack certainly brings the world closer to World War III

Reality: While anything is possible, it does not appear that Russia and China would get involved. Hezbollah has stated it will not get involved.

Myth 9: Israel is believed to have a nuclear bomb, so it’s only fair that Iran has one as well

Reality: Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. Israel has never threatened the same to Iran. Israel does not foment terrorism around the world, and Israel would not use a nuclear weapon to stop Western states from confronting its use of terrorism. That’s why countries like Germany and France say Iran cannot possess a nuclear weapon, but Israel can. Iran getting a nuclear weapon could also trigger a nuclear arms race with countries like Saudi Arabia.

The author is a writer based in New York.

The post Debunking Nine Myths of the Israel-Iran War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.