National News
Minnesota cyclist flees Iran amid airstrikes during seven-continent journey
NEWNow you can take heed to Fox Information articles!
A Minnesota man with a dream to cycle over all seven continents was compelled to give you different plans after Israel had launched a barrage of air strikes on the army leaders of Iran and nuclear services, near the place he drove.
The Related Press stated that 32-year-old Ian Anderson of Minnetonka, Minnesota, was not going to be caught in an actual battle zone, so he drove to neighboring Azerbaijan on Monday.
“The bombs began to fall,” Andersen informed The Wire Service on Wednesday, spoke on Zoom from a lodge in Baku. “It was extraordinarily scary.”
Andersen toured Iran as a part of a a few years of mission to experience his bike over all seven continents. Whereas in IranAndersen had an area information and he had shared movies of his journey with tens of 1000’s of followers on social media, because the starting of June.
On this photograph of @ridsoithian, Ian Andersen poses on Sunday 1 June 2025 for a selfie close to the Turkey-Iran border. (@ridewithian by way of AP)
“The day the bombs began to fall” was Friday, and Andersen and his information went south alongside the Caspian beach, from Chalus to the capital Tehran.
Andersen had reportedly hoped to request a visa Afghanistan In Tehran, with ambitions to cross it to Central Asia and to Russia.
“It was actually simply the worst timing that was attainable,” he informed the AP.
As quickly because the bombs began to fall, Andersen and his information spoke in place and Spanish spoke to stop folks from being out of the US
Caitlyn Jenner, stuck in Israel after Iran Strike, places photos of chaos and shelter
Automobiles drive on a freeway whereas smoke comes from an oil storage facility after it was hit by an Israeli strike on Saturday in Tehran, Iran, Monday 16 June 2025. (AP Picture/Vahid Salemi)
He additionally stated that he noticed lengthy rows of automobiles that flee on Tehran, and on the similar time his circle of relatives, buddies and followers of social media had been involved about his security.
The US Division of Overseas Affairs has knowledgeable Andersen in an e -mail that he must depart to Azerbaijan or Turkey.
A pal of Andersen in Los Angeles requested a visa on his behalf to Azerbaijan, who was finally granted by the American embassy in Baku.
Democratic legislators criticize Israel’s defensive strikes against the nuclear locations of Iran
An enormous praise of smoke and hearth rises from an oil refinery in Zuid -Teheran after reviews that an Israeli strike on 15 June 2025 was aiming at night time. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
Biking, Andersen stated, his dream and escape, and up to now he had struggled with dependancy and a spotlight deficit problems.
And whereas his dream to cycle, the seven continents could have hit a pace bump, he doesn’t remorse going the journey.
The bombs in Iran weren’t his solely brush with dying. The truth is, he stated that in 2023 he was in Noord -Kenia when a tribes threatened to throw a rocket at him whereas biking by means of a rural space.
“There’ll all the time be a threat, and you must settle for it,” he stated.
Click on right here to get the Fox Information app
Now that he’s from Iran, Andersen stated that he’s planning to move the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan after which go to the east to Uzbekistan. However from there, Andersen stated that he would not know the place to go.
The Related Press has contributed to this report.