MOSCOW, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Around 7,000 Russian nationals have been evacuated from across the Middle East amid the escalating tensions in the region, a senior representative of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) said on Wednesday.

Dmitry Arutyunov, co-chair of the RUTI Outbound Tourism Committee, said at a press conference that approximately 50,000 Russian tourists are currently staying in the Middle East. "About 7,000 passengers have been evacuated," he said, noting that not all of them were package tour travelers.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova confirmed the estimated figure of roughly 50,000 Russian travelers stranded in the Middle East. She added that between 6,000 and 8,000 Russian nationals are currently unable to leave countries in Asia and Africa due to suspended transit air connections.

Zakharova also said that as of March 3, a total of 292 Russian nationals had been evacuated from Iran amid heightened tensions in the region. Of these, 253 had left via Azerbaijan, 31 via Armenia, and eight crossed the Iranian-Turkmen border, she said.

On Feb. 28, joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes hit Iran's capital Tehran and other cities. Iran has responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli and U.S. military bases across the Middle East. ■