‘Saw missiles and drones’: Indian students evacuated from Iran arrive in Delhi, hail support from embassy

Maaz’s parents are not the only ones who’ve been waiting.

Naseem, 70, is also at the airport, waiting for her maternal grandson, Sameer, along with Sameer’s parents and aunts and uncles, and cousins. The entire family takes turns sitting on the luggage trolley in front of the gate.

When students finally arrive, parents heave a sigh of relief and scramble to find their children. But Arshi is unable to see Maaz in the crowd. Eventually, a friend of Maaz tells her that he may be headed to another gate; Arshi, who has been waiting for more than five hours now, sprints there.

Among the first to walk out of the gates is Tamheed Islam, a final-year MBBS student at Urmia, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir. Describing the conditions in Iran, the 24-year-old says, “Urmia was relatively safe, but other areas were more dangerous. We did see some missiles and drones.”

He also praises the role of the Indian authorities: “The Indian embassy and Ministry of External Affairs were very good. They were coordinating with us and remained in touch throughout.”

Mariam Rose, 24, who hails from Delhi’s Trilokpuri, says she was not scared at all. “I was in constant touch with my family and was seeing updates on the internet. So we were not scared at all.” The first thing she did was hug her mother.

For Muskaan Shabir, 25, an experience at the Armenian border is one she will remember all her life. She says they found out that four people had visa or passport issues. “Three men had problems with their visas, and one person’s passport had an issue. We expected the visa issue would be resolved, but none of us thought the passport problem could be fixed. We thought we would have to leave that person behind,” Shabir, an MBBS student who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, says.

“But the Indian embassy officials said they will get it resolved and, if necessary, they will accompany him to Tehran to get it fixed. Tehran is a 15-hour drive. But thankfully, that didn’t happen, and the issue was solved on the spot by the embassy officials. All of us were so happy when we saw that person cross the border,” Shabir recounts.

She says embassy officials treated them “like family”, like they had known them for years.

But with no flights arranged to take them back home in Kashmir, Shabir has just one disappointment on landing in Delhi: “We are jet lagged, sleep deprived, and exhausted. Now they are telling us we have to take a bus to Kashmir? How can they expect us to take a 20-hour bus, which is not even a sleeper bus?” she asks.

Taking note, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s office wrote on X: “The Chief Minister has taken note of the request of the students evacuated from Iran regarding the quality of buses arranged to transport them from Delhi to J&K. The Resident Commissioner has been tasked with coordinating with the JKRTC to ensure proper deluxe buses are arranged.”

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh was at the Delhi airport to receive the students. Later, in a post on X, he wrote, “Warmly welcomed home the first group of 110 Indian nationals evacuated from Iran as part of Operation Sindhu, reaffirming India’s steadfast commitment to the safety and well-being of its citizens abroad.”
He confirmed that more flights are scheduled: “We have planes ready. We will be sending another plane today. We are evacuating some more people from Turkmenistan. Our missions have opened 24-hour helplines for any request for evacuation.”

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal shared some photos of the students on X and wrote, “… Government of India remains committed to the safety of Indian nationals abroad”.