The Ugandan government has successfully evacuated at least 43 students who had been stranded in Iran after hostilities in the Middle East escalated dramatically.
The students, who had been studying in universities in Tehran, were transported by road to the Türkiye-Iran border and are currently under the care of Uganda’s embassy in Ankara.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire confirmed the evacuation on Monday, describing it as a swift and coordinated response.
“We had around 43 students in universities in Tehran that the embassy quickly organised and took them by road to the Turkish-Iran border where they were received by our mission in Ankara,” Bagiire said.
“These students, by and large, are part of the Ugandan community that our embassy in Tehran has constantly and consistently been in touch with,” he added.
The security situation in Iran deteriorated sharply at the end of last week following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in a series of missile strikes around Tehran attributed to Israel and the United States. The developments sparked fears of wider regional instability, prompting several countries to move quickly to secure their nationals.
Sources familiar with the evacuation process said the operation began on Saturday after Uganda’s embassy in Ankara received distress notifications from students seeking urgent assistance.
“Our embassy in Ankara received notifications on Saturday from the students who were stranded in Iran and needed evacuation. The embassy had to act swiftly,” a source who preferred anonymity told this publication.
Following the alerts, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, together with officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, began drawing up a rapid evacuation plan.
The plan prioritised assembling the students in Tehran and transporting them out of the country before the situation worsened further. According to sources, Uganda’s Defence Adviser in Türkiye, Major General Bob Ogiki, was tasked with coordinating the ground operation to ensure its success.
“To ensure success of the operation, Maj Gen Ogiki was tasked to coordinate the ground operation,” the source said.
The Ugandan Embassy in Ankara simultaneously worked to secure transit visas for the group, enabling their legal passage into Türkiye. Within 24 hours, the students had travelled by bus to the Türkiye-Iran border, where they were received by officials from Uganda’s mission in Ankara.
They were subsequently transferred to the Ugandan Embassy in Ankara, where they are currently being accommodated as arrangements for their return home are finalised.
Bagiire said government is now focused on the next phase of the operation — repatriating the students to Uganda.
“We are hoping that by the end of the week, they will have arrived back home in Uganda,” he said.
Diplomatic sources also indicated that verification efforts are ongoing to establish whether additional Ugandans remain in Iran and may require evacuation assistance.
Uganda maintains diplomatic missions in both Tehran and Ankara, enabling coordination across the two capitals during the crisis. Officials say the longstanding engagement between the embassy in Tehran and the Ugandan community in Iran made it easier to quickly account for students and initiate the evacuation.
The operation underscores the government’s reliance on both diplomatic and defence channels in managing overseas emergencies, particularly in volatile regions where security conditions can shift rapidly.
As tensions continue to ripple across the Middle East, authorities say they remain on alert and prepared to act should further evacuations become necessary.
