Operates 3 flights from Mashad for over 1000 students
Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 20: After remaining stranded at Mashad in war-torn Iran near the Turkmenistan border for the last few days, over 1000 Indian students, mostly Kashmiri, had a sigh of relief today after Iran eased airspace restrictions for three evacuation flights to move students out of the country.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
Mohammad Javad Hosseini, the deputy chief of mission at the Iranian embassy in New Delhi, said more evacuation flights could be operated in the coming days to bring back Indians if required.
Over 1000 students with over 500 Kashmiris were moved to Mashad from Tehran following Israeli attacks on the capital city. The evacuation flights are being operated by Iranian airline Mahan.
These students were shifted to Qom last week from Tehran and taken to Mashad for evacuation through Turkmenistan a few days ago. However, Turkmenistan granted only airport visas to these students and it led to their stranding in Mashad.
One flight is taking off from Mashad at 6:30 pm Iranian time and will land at New Delhi International Airport by midnight and two others are also expected to land by tomorrow.
A student stranded in Mashad told Excelsior that few buses left for Mashad airport in the afternoon for evacuation. “Their flight was scheduled for 6:30 pm. We have been told to be ready and will be evacuated by midnight and early morning tomorrow,” she said.
“It was horrible for us as we were being shifted from one city to another amid bombing for the last one week. Now we are being evacuated. We hope the process goes on smoothly,” she added.
A parent whose daughter is scheduled to land by midnight flight said that they are relieved now and hoped that the flight lands at New Delhi airport safely.
Iran shut its airspace until further notice after Israel carried out air strikes on multiple targets across the country, including the capital, Tehran, on 13th June.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stepped up efforts after reports emerged of injuries to some Indian students amid missile and drone strikes. “India accords highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad,” the MEA said in a statement, expressing gratitude to the Governments of Iran and Armenia for their cooperation.
The Indian Government has launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran in view of the deteriorating situation as a result of the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.
Earlier, an IndiGo flight from Armenia brought back over 110 students with 90 Kashmiris after they crossed over to Armenia from Iran.
Hundreds of Indian nationals including large numbers of students are stranded in different cities of Iran and are awaiting evacuation from war-torn country.
Earlier aggrieved parents said that in the last eight days only students of one college were evacuated. “Most of the students are still waiting for their evacuation. These students are stranded at Mashad, Raksht and other cities,” they said.
The parents appealed to MEA to immediately interfere and evacuate the students from Iran as the situation is worsening day by day there.
One parent said these students have been continuously travelling from one place to another for the last 6 days.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
