Flight Carrying Indian Students Arrives in Delhi After Iran Opens Airspace for Evacuation
A special evacuation flight carrying 290 Indian students, primarily from Jammu and Kashmir, landed in Delhi late Friday night after Iran temporarily lifted its airspace restrictions to support India’s ‘Operation Sindhu’. The humanitarian gesture allowed three special flights to evacuate nearly 1,000 stranded Indians. This was the first of the three.
The students had been relocated from Tehran to Mashhad after a series of Israeli airstrikes heightened regional tensions. The evacuation flights are being operated by Iranian airline Mahan Air and coordinated by the Indian government.
The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association expressed gratitude to Indian authorities, saying, “Heartfelt thanks to the Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, and all concerned authorities for their timely intervention and support. A great relief for families who had been anxiously awaiting their return.”
Thousands of Indian nationals—many of them students from Jammu and Kashmir—remain in Iran.
Another evacuation flight from Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat is expected to arrive in Delhi around 3 AM, followed by a third flight later on Saturday.
Launched on Wednesday, ‘Operation Sindhu’ is India’s response to escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran, aiming to safely bring home its citizens from the conflict zones. On Thursday, a group of 110 students was evacuated via Armenia and Doha.
Iranian embassy official Mohammad Javad Hosseini confirmed that further evacuation flights may be arranged if necessary. “We consider Indians as our own people. Though Iran’s airspace is officially closed, we’ve made special arrangements for Indian nationals to leave safely,” he said.
According to Mr. Hosseini, approximately 10,000 Indian citizens are currently residing in Iran.
The latest flare-up in the region began on June 13, when Israel launched ‘Operation Rising Lion’, targeting Iran’s top military leadership and nuclear infrastructure. In retaliation, Iran launched airstrikes, with both sides exchanging hundreds of missiles over the past four days.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
