Operation Sindhu: India evacuates 517 nationals from Iran as war rages in the Middle East

India on Saturday (Jun 21) rescued 117 Indian nationals from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, as the third special evacuation flight landed in Delhi under Operation Sindhu. Lauding the successful evacuation, Indian Minister of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal on X said, "A special evacuation flight from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan landed in New Delhi at 0300 hrs on 21st June, bringing Indians from Iran home." He added that with this, "so far 517 Indian nationals from Iran have returned home under Operation Sindhu". Just hours earlier, late on Friday (Jun 20), another flight, this one from Mashhad, Iran, brought home 290 Indian students. The Indian government has launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran because of the worsening situation amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.

Rescued students thank GOI

In a post on X, the Jammu and Kashmir student association thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the External Affairs Ministry, and all concerned authorities for evacuating the students.

The association wrote, “Mahan Air evacuation flight from Mashhad, Iran, carrying 290 students, the majority of whom are from Kashmir, has landed safely in New Delhi just now. Heartfelt thanks, PM, EAM and all concerned authorities for their timely intervention and support.”

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X, “Operation Sindhu flight brings citizens home. India evacuated 290 Indian nationals from Iran, including students and religious pilgrims by a charter flight. The flight arrived in New Delhi at 2330 hrs on 20 June and was received by Secretary (CPV& OIA) Arun Chatterjee.”

“Government of India is grateful to the Government of Iran for the facilitation of the evacuation process.”

Earlier, Iran said it had opened its airspace for evacuation flights to India in a special gesture. The first flight carrying 110 students from Iran landed at Delhi International Airport early Thursday (Jun 19) under ‘Operation Sindhu’. The first batch of students, all from Urmia Medical University, were brought from Iran to Armenia by road and brought to Delhi via flight. The flight was delayed by three hours, NDTV reported.

According to reports, there are over 13,000 Indian students in Iran. Most of them are pursuing medical degrees. To evacuate Indian nationals from Iran amid its conflict with Israel, the Ministry of External Affairs announced ‘Operation Sindhu’.