Headlines
France plans repatriation flights from middle east
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 4, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 4, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 4, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 4, 2026
France is organizing repatriation flights on March 4 for vulnerable nationals from the Middle East amid Iran’s ongoing drone and missile attacks; Rafale jets were deployed in a defensive role to counter Iranian drones targeting the UAE.
PARIS, March 4 (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said several repatriation flights for French nationals in the Middle East were planned for Wednesday.
"One will depart from the United Arab Emirates, another from Egypt to repatriate vulnerable ones from Israel," Barrot told France 2 TV.
Barrot declined to say how many people would be on the flights. Around 400,000 French nationals are in the region.
Barrot also confirmed that French Rafale fighter jets had taken out Iranian drones targeting the UAE as part of Iran's strikes on Gulf countries following U.S and Israeli attacks.
"We have already responded to the request from our partners, particularly the United Arab Emirates, with military capabilities that we were able to provide them. All of this with a simple objective that is strictly defensive: to enable our partners to defend themselves against this aggression that they did not provoke," he said.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Timothy Heritage)
France is organizing repatriation flights to bring back French nationals due to rising tensions and recent attacks in the region.
Flights will depart from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, repatriating nationals including vulnerable individuals from Israel.
There are around 400,000 French nationals in the Middle East region.
French Rafale fighter jets intercepted and destroyed Iranian drones targeting the UAE.
French officials have not disclosed how many people will be on the repatriation flights.
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