Hundreds of Foreigners Flee Tehran : Evacuees Escape Iraqi Threat to Fire on Planes Over Iran

Hundreds of foreigners fled the Iranian capital of Tehran today to escape a threatened Iraqi attack on any planes traveling in Iranian airspace. One rescue plane was pinned to the ground by artillery fire for 30 minutes.

West Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Turkey organized last-minute flights for people who wished to leave Tehran before an 8 p.m. deadline set by Iraq in the escalating Persian Gulf war with Iran.

A spokesman for the West German airline Lufthansa said it had evacuated 357 people from the Iranian capital. Two Austrian airliners were traveling from Tehran to Vienna.

131 Flown to Vienna

A pilot of one of those flights, Austrian Airways Capt. Wilhelm Menke, said he evacuated 131 passengers to Vienna today but was delayed in getting aloft.

“When we got to Tehran there was a red-alert air raid warning and we were pinned to the ground for 30 minutes. There was outgoing artillery fire but we did not see any attacking Iraqi aircraft.”

He said “we had to hug the Russian border” on the flight out of Iran.

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone asked Iran’s deputy foreign minister to help evacuate about 400 Japanese citizens.

Planes ‘Pretty Full’

An Air France official in Paris said one of the airline’s jetliners also had left Tehran and was believed to be “pretty full.”

Iran threatened to destroy Baghdad today and said it had fired a missile into an industrial plant in the Iraqi capital.

Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency said, “An industrial point in Baghdad was pounded by a ground-to-ground missile,” the fourth such attack in as many days.

“The attack is said to have inflicted considerable losses and damage,” IRNA said. “A strong glare was seen followed by a horrible explosion” in Baghdad’s Doha district.

Air Raids Stepped Up

Iraq, which has stepped up a series of air raids against civilian targets, responded with reports of air strikes against five more Iranian cities today.

Iraqi authorities did not immediately confirm the report of the missile attack on the capital. Baghdad residents contacted by a private Beirut radio station said that they heard a loud explosion but that they did not know what caused it.

Tehran radio said the missile attack was aimed at “the heart of Baghdad” and that “the Islamic republic intends to convert this city into ruins for the rulers of Iraq.”

The official Kuwaiti News Agency said foreign ministers of the six-nation Arab Gulf Cooperation Council today agreed to send top envoys to Tehran and Baghdad in a fresh attempt to stop the war.