Operation Sindhu Continues: Over 500 Indian Nationals Safely Evacuated from Iran Amid Tension In Middle East-OxBig News Network

The Central government has evacuated over 517 Indian nationals from Iran so far under Operation Sindhu. 

The government launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran, amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.

Giving details of the operation, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X, “Operation Sindhu continues. A special evacuation flight from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, landed in New Delhi at 0300 hrs on 21st June, bringing Indians from Iran home. With this, so far 517 Indian nationals from Iran have returned home under Operation Sindhu.”

On Friday, a special flight carrying 290 Indian nationals evacuated from Iran reached New Delhi.

Zaffar Abbas Naqvi, an Indian national evacuated from Iran, recounted that his family stayed indoors after hearing about an attack on Iran. They later moved to Mashhad, which also came under attack, prompting them to contact the Indian government for assistance.

“Everything was going fine, but one day we heard that Iran had been attacked. We stayed indoors for some time. We then moved to Mashhad. Soon Mashhad came under attack. We then contacted the Indian government. The action was so swift that we cannot express our gratitude in words. I want to thank Modi ji and Yogi ji who made all the arrangements for us…,” ANI quoted Naqvi as saying. 

Kulsum, an Indian national evacuated from Iran, said that the situation in Iran is worrisome and thanked the government for helping her return home.

“The situation in Iran is not good. We were very worried. The government helped us a lot and brought us back home safely,” ANI quoted Kulsum as saying. 

On Thursday, 110 Indian students, mainly from Urmia Medical University, including 90 from Kashmir, were evacuated from northern Iran and taken to Armenia before being flown to New Delhi. 

The conflict between Israel and Iran entered its ninth day on Saturday. The conflict began when Israel attacked Iran on June 13 as part of “Operation Rising Lion.” Iran retaliated by launching a large-scale drone and missile called ‘Operation True Promise 3’.