The cabinet on Monday greenlit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs taking all necessary organizational steps to ensure that Estonian citizens could return home safely following counter-strikes by the Iranian regime on targets in the region, including those with a U.S. military presence.

Tsahkna has advised people to remain in cities they have been staying in, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as their protection can be ensured there. "We certainly do not recommend that anyone start moving through the desert on their own and without concrete plans. Cities are under air defense system [protection]," the foreign minister said.

If prolonging a stay proves too costly, the state will also cover the cost of accommodation.

"We have agreed with the governments of the Emirates and Qatar that the costs of accommodation for these people will be covered in the form of hotels, and it is certainly safer there than simply wandering around," he added.

Last week was the school half-term break in Estonia and many people had visited Dubai, the UAE and the wider region. Current data puts the figure at 3,000 Estonian citizens staying in the Middle East on a short-term basis, over half of them in the UAE.

Dubai's airspace is closed following renewed Iranian strikes on the region Monday, but Tsahkna noted his ministry is exploring other options for bringing people home, and again has the mandate and the resources to do so.

"The Estonian state has never left anyone behind anywhere, even in very complicated situations, as you know from history," Tsahkna noted.

While Oman's main airport is operating, it is congested, and those Estonians who traveled there as a way out, Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur (Reform) among them, have not been able to get out while the conflict situation remains. "There is certainly no prospect of peace," Tsahkna said.

Estonian ambassador: Exit via Oman would involve a long drive

Estonia's ambassador to Oman Ingrid Amer told ERR that if Estonian citizens wish to leave the Emirates via Oman, they would need to travel overland, which would entail a long, roughly five-hour drive in congested conditions and in the desert; additionally, Oman's infrastructure is not the same as Dubai's, for instance, she noted.

"Oman is not a tourism destination on the same scale as Dubai, for example. That means they have fewer hotels, and at the moment these are largely sold out. Airline tickets are also sold out for a long time ahead," Amer said.

"So if someone wishes to return home via that route, the option exists, but one should not start moving before having tickets and accommodation arranged," she added.

Most flights operated by Oman's national airline, Oman Air, however, are taking place, she added, with only flights to other destinations in the region such as Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE being canceled.

Flights are also operating from Jordan and Lebanon, she added.

Tsahkna said charter flights would prove expensive, though "work is underway to find partners who will be able to fly at all, as at the moment European airlines are also banned from flying across the entire region, including Oman. But we are working on this 24/7 and keeping our people there informed."

Tsahkna said that on Monday he spoke with his counterparts in the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Iraq to obtain information about the opening of air corridors, adding that this was subject to great uncertainty due to the conflict which began Saturday morning. "Similarly, both President Trump, the foreign minister (Secretary of State Marco Rubio – ed.) and the war minister (Pete Hegseth – ed.) have said that larger waves of attacks may still come compared to what we have seen so far," Tsahkna said.

Taking all stranded Estonian citizens back home from the region would require an estimated five to six flights, the minister went on.

Estonia's defense minister had been in Dubai, made for Oman

ERR's Mirko Ojakivi asked Tsahkna why Estonia has not managed to bring home fellow government minister Pevkur yet.

"Our focus is not on the defense minister's personal problem," Tsahkna said, adding: "Ask Pevkur about Pevkur's adventures yourself. I must admit that our focus today is on our people, not on the defense minister's personal problem."

Ojakivi pointed out that Pevkur, too, is an Estonian citizen, to which Tsahkna replied: "Certainly, but I understand that he is taking responsibility for where he is at the moment."

Tsahkna said that all information and advice provided by the ministry was done so in direct communication with local authorities "who know the situation best in terms of keeping our people safe," adding that there is nothing that the ministry can physically do to prevent people making their own way out of the region, and that "people are primarily responsible for themselves."

"Our task is to ensure that our citizens are in the safest possible situation, and today work is underway to enable them to leave the region, because our forecast is not for anything very calm," he added.

More advice from the ministry is here and the ministry's Reisi targalt travel advice site is here (link in Estonian).

Violence has escalated across the Middle East after Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Saturday. US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to rise up against their government.

Iran retaliated with missiles and drones targeting Israel and several regional states, as well as vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has declared closed.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah has also entered the conflict, firing rockets into Israel, prompting Israeli strikes on its positions in Lebanon.

The building housing Estonia's Abu Dhabi Embassy has also been damaged in the missile and drone strikes launched by Iran.

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