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No internet, protests at night, panic back home: Indians return from Iran, relive chaos

Several students and professionals arrived at Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in the early hours of Saturday

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 17, 2026 05:05 PM IST

Arsh Zehra, an Indian national who returned from Iran at International Airport in New Delhi on Saturday Morning. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA)

Fires lit up the streets. Protesters appeared suddenly, sometimes surrounding cars and shouting. The internet disappeared entirely, and with it went phone calls and messages.

This is how some Indian nationals who arrived at Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in the early hours of Saturday described what was happening on the streets of Iran.

Waiting in the arrival section were families of Indian pilgrims, workers and students. Some were sitting on the cold metal benches, a few held flowers wrapped in cellophane. All stared at the glass doors every time they opened.

Also read | Evacuation from Iran only if problems on ground, says Govt

Just after 3 am, Arsh Sehra stepped out. The MBBS student from Shiraz Medical University barely had time to look around before camera lights flared and microphones shoved into her face.

There had been no internet, she explained, so there were no warnings, rumours, or videos of unrest circulating on phones. “We had no idea,” she repeated. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA)

She panicked as questions came from all directions. Her father immediately stepped closer, standing beside her. “Everything is fine,” she said quickly.

There had been no internet, she explained, so there were no warnings, rumours, or videos of unrest circulating on phones. “We had no idea,” she repeated.

The Indian Embassy had issued an advisory, after which the family booked tickets and returned on their own.

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Iran is in the midst of one of its most serious bouts of unrest in years, triggered by protests that began in late December 2025 over economic hardship and later expanded into anti-government demonstrations.

Also read | ‘Don’t know if my parents are alive or dead’: Iranian students in India wait in fear as protests rage back home, phones go silent

Amid the crackdown and a communication blackout, India’s Ministry of External Affairs advised Indian nationals in Iran to remain cautious, avoid non-essential movement, stay in contact with the Indian Embassy in Tehran, monitor official updates, and consider leaving the country where travel was feasible.

Shabbir Hussain, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, landed earlier in the night. He described a different experience. He had seen fires, he said. He had seen protests, but only at night.

“Protests were happening in Tehran, Mashhad and Qom,” Hussain said.

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“If you can’t contact your family, everyone gets worried. Anxiety spread quickly back home,” he said.

Tehran, he said, seemed to change by the hour: unrest at night and calm during the day. Communication returned slowly. “International calling resumed after a few days. By this evening, things are becoming normal again in Tehran… that’s what we are hearing.”

Mohammad Dilshad, from Hyderabad, had been in Iran for work on an official assignment, coordinating with supervisors based there. He had been in the country for a month, but for the past two weeks communications were shutting down slowly.

Protesters, he recalled, would suddenly rush toward their car, shouting, creating panic. Nothing happened to them physically, he said.

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“My mother and father were crying back home in Hyderabad,” he said. “We couldn’t even send a normal message.”

With no internet, Dilshad’s flights were cancelled and the Indian embassy’s phone lines in Tehran were unreachable. Eventually, his supervisors managed to book tickets.

Speaking to the media at the arrivals gate, Mohammad Jawad, from Bijnor, waited for his aunt who had travelled to Iran on a pilgrimage. “We kept hearing that protests were happening mostly at night… we were assured that there was no need to be afraid,” he said.

Nijmeh Haider, from Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha, was waiting for his younger brother’s wife who had been unreachable for days. “The internet was dead. Then, one night, the call finally came: ‘We are fine. The flight leaves at midnight.’ These words gave us relief,” he said.

(with ANI inputs)

Vidheesha Kuntamalla

Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions. Professional Profile Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region. Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice. Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility. She has also reported widely on: * Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs * Policy responses to campus mental health * Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University * Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US. Reporting Style Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025) 1. Express Investigation Series JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025) An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors. JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025) The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus. 2. International Education & Immigration ‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025) H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025) Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025) What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025) Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025) ‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025) 3. Academic Freedom & Policy Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025) Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025) SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses. 4. Mental Health on Campuses In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025) Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025) 5. Delhi Schools These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025) ‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read More

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