The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD) has no information that any Swedes have been injured since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, and Iran responded with attacks on several countries in the region.
"We are very concerned about the development. This is a very, very serious situation - and we don't know where it will go," Svante Liljegren told TT on Monday morning.
At least 4,200 stranded
Swedish travelers were caught off guard by the attack, which led to the closure of airspace in, among other places, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, including the hubs of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
"Swedes who are in the Middle East are urged to follow the developments closely, take note of the Swedish embassies' travel information, download the UD Resklar app and activate push notifications, register on the Swedish list, follow the advice of local authorities and keep in touch with relatives," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on its website on Monday afternoon.
The Foreign Ministry had expected that Iran would be able to respond to a possible attack.
"But the fact that it is happening on this scale against so many countries, against what appear to be civilian targets - hotel buildings and other things - is a surprise to me personally," Liljegren said.
More than 3,600 Swedes in Dubai and 600 in Doha are stranded and have registered on the Swedish list. Many are stuck elsewhere with planned stopovers in the hubs.
No buses
How the Swedes will get home - if the conflict continues for several weeks - is unclear.
"At the moment there are no alternatives because the airspace is closed. It is important to be clear about that. But as the Foreign Minister has said, we are of course looking at how we can best help Swedes."
For example, busing Swedes to neighboring countries and flying them out is not "a realistic alternative."
The US has been ramping up its military presence in the region for several weeks. Despite this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has held off on advising against travel.
"The decisions to advise against must be made at exactly the right time. They must not come too early, because then they will not be followed. They must not come too late, because then they are ineffective."
According to an email that DN has seen, it appears that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' department for consular and civil law matters - which includes the so-called Foreign Ministry emergency service - has entered crisis organization as of 12 noon on Monday. This is to "more easily structure the work on the ongoing incident in Iran/the Gulf and to ensure sustainability," according to the email.
Facts: Thousands of flights canceled
Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi are hubs for airline giants Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.
Between Saturday, February 28 and Monday, March 2, 7,306 flights were canceled at international airports, according to data from the Aerodatabox service, which is estimated to have affected over 1.5 million passengers.
The airspace is essentially empty over the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Bahrain, according to air traffic services.
