Operation Sindhu flight Delhi: India on Wednesday announced launching ‘Operation Sindhu’ to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran as fears of an all-out Israeli-American military strikes on Iran increased.
The first batch of 100 students are returning from Armenia to Delhi in the early hours of Thursday.
As India is starting its evacuation, the Iranian embassy officials said that some Indian students have sustained injuries in a strike and the Iranian foreign ministry was in close touch with the Indian mission in Tehran.
An official statement of the Ministry of External Affairs said, “In view of the deteriorating situation as a result of the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, the government of India has been taking various steps over the last several days for the safety and security of Indian nationals in Iran.”
“As a first step, the Indian Embassy has evacuated 110 Indian students from northern Iran, assisting them in safely crossing over into Armenia on 17th June 2025. The students have travelled by road to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, under the supervision of our Missions in Iran and Armenia. These students departed Yerevan on a special flight at 1455 hrs on 18th June 2025 and will arrive in New Delhi in the early hours of 19th June 2025 as part of the initial stages of Operation Sindhu,” it said.
It said that the government of India is grateful to the governments of Iran and Armenia for the smooth facilitation of the evacuation process.
“India accords highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad. As part of the ongoing operation, the Indian Embassy in Iran has been assisting large numbers of Indian nationals in moving from areas seeing increased hostilities to relatively safer areas within the country and to subsequently evacuate them using the available and feasible options,” it said, adding that Indian nationals in Iran are advised to stay in touch with the Indian Embassy in Tehran through its emergency helpline, and with the 24×7 Control Room established by the MEA in New Delhi.
More than 4,000 Indian nationals are said to be living in Iran and half of them are students.
A day earlier, on Tuesday, India had asked its nationals to leave Tehran.
As India monitors developments in the region and prepares its evacuation plans from the conflict zone, it faces a diplomatic challenge post-Operation Sindoor.
Armenia is one of Iran’s neighbouring countries that Delhi is in touch with. India doesn’t have amicable ties with some of the other countries bordering Iran — Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan.
Besides Armenia, Turkmenistan and Iraq are the other neighbouring countries of Iran with whom India has amicable ties; it doesn’t have formal diplomatic ties with Afghanistan. It also has the Persian Gulf route, from where it can evacuate Indians through ships or via Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. With such complex regional dynamics at play, Delhi is tapping all its diplomatic relationships to evacuate its citizens.
Contact details: 1800118797 (toll-free) +91-11-23012113 +91-11-23014104 +91-11-23017905 +91-9968291988 (Whatsapp); email: situationroom@mea.gov.in
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