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‘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

The Indian Express speaks to three students in Delhi and Pune about their helplessness in the face of the situation in Iran and how their only word from home is through social media.

6 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 17, 2026 04:47 AM IST

Demonstrators in Israel burn a poster of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran. There are an estimated 10,000 Indians in Iran — including students in medical colleges in Tehran and Isfahan and pilgrims studying in seminaries in Qom and Mashhad. (AP Photo)

Sitting alone in her hostel room at a university in Delhi, a 32-year-old PhD scholar scrolls through Instagram constantly, watching shaky videos scroll past her screen. “Some posts vanish within minutes. Others contradict one another. There’s no way to find out whether my family is ok… if my parents are alive,” she said.

She left Iran four years ago to pursue doctoral research in cultural and humanities studies. Until last week, she spoke to her parents every day. Now, her calls don’t connect and messages remain undelivered.

“I cannot focus. I cannot sleep,” she said. “Every moment my phone buzzes, I hope it’s my family… The only thing that would make this better is hearing their voices.”

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Her mother is a homemaker. Her father runs a small groceries shop in Tehran. The shop, she believes, is shut now. “The last time I spoke to my parents, they told me it’s not stable,” she said. “People are protesting. Police are everywhere.”

Across Delhi and other Indian cities, Iranian students and Indian students with families in Iran are grappling with the same helplessness as protests spiral back home and communication channels collapse.

Their anxiety has deepened as India begins preparing to evacuate its nationals from Iran. With Tehran temporarily closing its airspace to commercial flights on Thursday and tensions mounting in West Asia amid uncertainty over possible US action against the Iranian regime, the Ministry of External Affairs has said it is making arrangements to facilitate the return of Indian nationals who wish to travel back.

Around 10,000 Indians stuck in Iran

There are an estimated 10,000 Indians in Iran — including students in medical colleges in Tehran and Isfahan and pilgrims studying in seminaries in Qom and Mashhad. A day earlier, the Indian embassy in Tehran urged Indian nationals to avoid protest sites and consider leaving the country.

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For the 32-year-old scholar, the current crisis began with the collapse of Iran’s currency. “One dollar is about 1.4 million rials now,” she said. “That’s when everything started falling apart.”

She recalled how shopkeepers and businessmen were the first to protest, unable to keep their businesses running. “Then everyone came out. No one was satisfied with the situation… but what is shown outside Iran is very different from what is happening inside,” she said.

The internet shutdown, she believes, is intentional. “They don’t want people to speak. That’s why they shut everything down.”

A few kilometres away in Jamia Nagar, Syed Hadi, a 21-year-old undergraduate student of Peace and Conflict Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, is counting days in much the same way.

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His younger sister, 19, moved to Tehran in 2023 and began college this year, studying psychology. She lives in a hostel. Hadi last heard from her on January 8.

“After that, nothing,” he said. “Since the internet dropped, there has been no contact.”

‘Tehran was never distant — until now’

Hadi is a third generation Iranian, but has an Indian passport. His family has lived in Kashmir. Ethnically they are Shirazis — with extended family spread across Iran. Growing up, pilgrimage trips to Qom and Mashhad were routine. Tehran, he said, was never a distant place. “That’s where my sister is now,” he said.

His parents, his father, a doctor, and his mother, now stay awake late into the night in Kashmir, phones in hand. “There is panic in my house because she’s living alone.” “I feel helpless,” he added. “What can I do from here?”

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Must Read | Iran on edge, echo in Kashmir: Parents of those studying there seek Centre’s help

As a student of conflict, Hadi is wary of the flood of information online. “Most of it is biased or intellectual propaganda,” he said. “In the age of AI, you don’t even know what’s real anymore.” Still, like the others, he scrolls constantly.

Sharing his takeaway from the current situation in Iran, Hadi said, “Iran has a 5,000-year-old civilisation. It does not need foreign involvement. This is a family issue. We know how to deal with it.”

Last week, Hadi said his aunt and uncle landed in India. “Until I went to the airport, I did not know that they would even make it. There are absolutely no communication channels.”

A third student, a 33-year-old PhD scholar in commerce and management at Fergusson College in Pune, studying under an ICCR scholarship, was going through the same emotional rollercoaster.

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“It has been more than a week since I last heard from my family,” she said. “I don’t know whether they are alive or dead.”

Opinion | In Iran, old order may be near its end, new one is struggling to be born

Citing reports circulating among Iranian networks, she claimed that more than 13,000 people had been shot and killed in the streets.

The PhD student in Delhi, meanwhile, says she wants to return to Iran someday. “It’s a beautiful place… what is happening right now is going to shape my future. I don’t know if I would be able to live in Iran or settle down in another country, but all I know is that it is home and my family is there… I haven’t met them in two years and I am praying every day to see them at least once.”

One day, she hopes to write about what is happening now. “I want to be strong enough to speak,” she said. “Strong enough to write about what is happening to my people.”

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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