Travellers say some Iranians held up at Turkish land border

KAPIKOY, Turkey , March 1 - Some Iranian citizens are being stopped from crossing into Turkey at Iran's northwestern Khoy land border gate, according to three foreign passport-holders who crossed on Sunday and some local Turkish media.

A day after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials, one of the travellers told Reuters there were increasing numbers of those waiting to cross into Turkey's eastern Van province.

They said the reason for delays was unclear. Turkish authorities and Iran's embassy in Ankara have said the three border crossings between the two countries were open and citizens could return home.

"People want to come to Turkey, but they are not being allowed in," said Arslan Arslan after he arrived in Turkey, adding that about 300-400 people were waiting to cross on the Iranian side.

"There are also many vehicles on the Khoy side," Arslan said.

Reuters was unable to independently verify numbers of travellers on the Iranian side of the frontier.

Umut Gungorur, returning to Turkey following the attacks, said that Iranian citizens were being blocked from leaving due to technical issues.

"They are not allowing Iranian citizens to exit the country. They are saying the system is down," he said, adding he observed no large crowd on the Iran side. "Even for us they did the passport transactions manually."

A local news outlet, Van Bolge Gazetesi, reported that only Turkish citizens were being permitted to enter Turkey from the crossing, while only Iranian citizens were being allowed to leave Turkey.

No disruptions were otherwise observed on the Turkish side of the crossing, known as Kapikoy, with vehicle and passenger flows appearing routine at the weekend.

Turkey's government convened a border security meeting to review measures against potential irregular migration and to reinforce capacity.

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran on Sunday as the Islamic Republic grappled to rebuild its leadership amid its biggest test in five decades. REUTERS