MOSCOW, March 3 (Xinhua) -- About 1,500 Russian travellers have already been evacuated from the Middle East, and another 2,000 are expected to return home on Tuesday, according to one tour operator in the region.

"About 1,500 have been repatriated, taking into account the flights that have already departed," Artur Muradyan, vice president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia and CEO of Space Travel, a Russian tour operator, was quoted by TASS news agency as saying. "Today, probably about 2,000 will be repatriated if all flights take place."

Earlier, Russia's Transport Ministry reported that following the joint U.S-Israeli military operation against Iran on Feb. 28, the airspace of 10 countries in the Middle East region, including Israel, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Syria, was closed or partially closed, with flights to and from nine of them suspended.

Over the weekend, Russian and foreign airlines canceled 216 flights, most of them operating between Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). More than 10,000 flight tickets have been refunded, according to official data.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the largest number of organized Russian tourists remains in the UAE, numbering over 20,000. More than 500 Russian travelers are currently staying in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined. ■