Eight Singaporeans have arrived in Kuala Lumpur after boarding a repatriation flight from Iran's capital, Teheran, arranged by the Malaysian government for its nationals.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement yesterday that the Singaporeans will serve a 14-day quarantine there, as required by the Malaysian health authorities, before returning home.

"The Singapore Government would like to express our deepest appreciation to the Malaysian government and the Embassy of Malaysia in Teheran for accepting our request to help evacuate the Singaporeans from Iran," MFA said in the statement.

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan posted on Facebook yesterday: "Deeply appreciative of the Malaysian Foreign Ministry Wisma Putra and their Embassy in Teheran for going beyond the call of duty to ferry eight Singaporeans from Iran to Kuala Lumpur. We look forward to welcoming the Singaporeans back home once they have completed their quarantine in Malaysia."

He added: "International and bilateral cooperation has never been more vital than at an uncertain time like this. We are grateful to our neighbours for their help."

An AirAsia flight was chartered specifically for the mission and it landed at 6.35am yesterday, said Malaysia's National Disaster Management Agency.

A total of 46 individuals, including children, who had registered with the Malaysian Embassy in Teheran were reported to have been on the special flight, which departed from Teheran last Saturday night.