Croatia had been monitoring tensions involving Iran for months and anticipated the possibility of escalation, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Saturday, after coordinated strikes by the United States and Israel on Iranian targets.
“We have been following this situation for months. Of course we anticipated a possible escalation, although we believed in the possibility of reaching a final agreement between all parties to the conflict,” Grlić Radman told reporters.
He said the U.S.-Israeli strikes had not endangered civilians, adding that the targets were selected to avoid civilian infrastructure.
“We see that civilian facilities have been protected. The strikes were aimed at points that would not endanger civilians but are important for establishing a new political context,” he said.
Asked whether he expected a change of government in Tehran, Grlić Radman said “everything is possible” and that “all options are open.”
He called on countries in the region to exercise restraint and pursue de-escalation, warning that the situation could trigger new crises elsewhere.
Grlić Radman said around 10 Croatian nationals currently remain in Iran, while Croatia’s embassy in Tehran has been evacuated, leaving one staff member to handle administrative and logistical duties.
According to information from the Croatian embassy in Tel Aviv, about 20 Croatian tourists and pilgrims are currently in Israel, along with approximately 100 dual Croatian-Israeli nationals, the ministry said.
The Foreign Ministry said it and Croatian embassies in the region were on heightened alert and actively monitoring developments.
“We have from the very beginning appealed to Croatian citizens not to travel to crisis areas,” Grlić Radman said, adding that travel advisories had been updated to discourage travel not only to Israel and Iran but also to countries including Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.