Israel-Iran Conflict: Indian students evacuated from Iran land in Delhi as airstrikes intensify; Trump undecided on US involvement

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that it has issued evacuation warning for the residents of Arak and Khandab in Iran, Reuters reported.

The prospect of a US strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought President Donald Trump to power, with some of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.

Some of Trump's most prominent Republican allies, including top lieutenant Steve Bannon, have found themselves in the unusual position of being at odds with a president who largely shares their isolationist tendencies.

Bannon, one of many influential voices from Trump's "America First" coalition, on Wednesday urged caution about the US military joining Israel in trying to destroy Iran's nuclear program in the absence of a diplomatic deal. "We can't do this again," Bannon told reporters at an event sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington. "We'll tear the country apart. We can't have another Iraq."

The anti-interventionist part of the Republican Party is watching with alarm as Trump has moved swiftly from seeking a peaceful diplomatic settlement with Iran to possibly having the United States support Israel's military campaign, including the use of a 30,000-pound "bunker buster" bomb.

- Reuters

Iranian authorities have arrested '18 enemy agents' who were building drones in the northeastern city of Mashhad for the Israeli attacks, Reuters reported quoting Iran's news agencies.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that it continues to strike Iran while intercepting its missiles being fired into Israeli territory. The IDF said that it targeted more than 20 military sites in Iran's capital city Tehran on Wednesday night.

The IDF stated that it hit "key nuclear and missile sites" in Tehran which the Israeli military claims "fuel Iran’s weapons program and attacks on Israeli civilians".

Israel's defence system intercepted most of the Iranian missiles fired towards it, BBC reported.

US President Donald Trump's meeting in the Situation Room at the White House ended on Wednesday. The US president has rallied his top military advisers as he ponders over the next move regarding Israel-Iran conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that he can mediate between Iran and Israel to end the growing conflict and suggested that the Kremlin can help negotiate a deal between the two warring nations, so that Tehran can pursue a peaceful nuclear program while relieving the pressure and concern of Israeli security.

While speaking to press, Putin said “it's a delicate issue,” but added that “in my view, a solution could be found.” When asked by reporters how would Russia react if Israel kills Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Putin refused to answer, stating that “I don't even want to discuss such a possibility.”

The Jammu and Kashmir Students' Association has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for the launch of evacuation effort, after 110 students were evacuated from the war-torn Iran.

"We remain hopeful that all remaining students will be evacuated soon," the Jammu and Kashmir Students' Association said in a statement.

Israel began flying home citizens stranded abroad on Wednesday, launching a phased airlift operation after the country's surprise military strike on Iran left tens of thousands of Israelis stuck overseas. The first rescue flight, operated by national carrier El Al , touched down at Ben Gurion Airport early Wednesday morning, bringing home passengers from Larnaca, Cyprus.

Worldwide, Israel's transport ministry estimates that more than 50,000 stranded Israelis are trying to come home.

El Al has said repatriation flights are already scheduled from Athens, Rome, Milan and Paris. Smaller rivals Arkia and Israir are also taking part in the operation. "We are preparing for the airlift to bring all Israelis home," Transportation Minister Miri Regev told the captain of the arriving El Al flight before it landed, according to a statement released by the Israeli Aviation Authority.

"We are very emotional about receiving the first rescue flight as part of 'Safe Return'. Land safely," she added.

Tel Aviv's airport has been closed to passenger traffic since Israel launched its attack on Friday. The Airports Authority reinforced staffing on Wednesday to ensure the arriving passengers exited the airport quickly. They were shuttled to their parked vehicles or transported via train and bus to city centres nationwide.

- Reuters

Flights took off for Israel on Wednesday from Cyprus, airport sources and web flight tracking sites showed, ferrying home Israelis stranded abroad during the conflict with Iran. Israel's airspace has been closed since the two countries began trading attacks on Friday, stranding tens of thousands whose flights to Tel Aviv were cancelled.

Israel announced special flights for the repatriation of its nationals on Tuesday. One flight operated by Arkia left Cyprus's Larnaca airport at 07:25 am (0425 GMT) for Tel Aviv. Nine more were expected to depart Wednesday for Haifa, and four for Tel Aviv, carrying about 1,000 people, sources in airport operator Hermes said.

Israel's Transportation Ministry has said as many as 150,000 Israelis are abroad, with about a third trying to get home. Large numbers have converged on Cyprus, the European Union member nation closest to Israel. Earlier on Wednesday, a cruise ship arrived in Cyprus carrying 1,500 participants in a Jewish heritage programme who had left Israel on Tuesday.

- Reuters

Amid the heightened tension and conflict between Israel and Iran, the US Navy has said that it expects two aircraft carrier strike groups, one led by the USS Nimitz and the other by the USS Carl Vinson, to be available in the Middle East.

According to US officials, the USS Nimitz group left South Asian waters on Monday for the Middle East region where it is poised to join the USS Vinson group, which ahs already been in the region for the past seven months due to its deployment, reported CNN.

Russian foreign ministry has called the Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear site as "illegal" and stressed that diplomacy was the only way forward.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called Iran's nuclear program "peaceful", reported DW.

Intense Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran’s capital early Wednesday in a conflict that a human rights group said had killed at least 585 people across Iran and wounded 1,326 others. The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said it had identified 239 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 126 as security personnel. The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports in the Islamic Republic against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the death toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded. Uncertainty roiled the region and residents of Tehran fled their homes in droves on the sixth day of Israel’s air campaign aimed at Iran’s military and nuclear program.

Israel asserts it had to launch its airstrike campaign to stop Iran from getting closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon. It came as Iran and the United States had been negotiating over the possibility of a new diplomatic deal over Tehran’s program, though President Donald Trump has said Israel’s campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.

- AP

As tensions and hostilities rose between Israel and Iran, a social media conflict was up between US President Donald Trump and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Here's a look at their messages in past 24 hours:

The US military is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, bolstering US military forces in the region as the war between Israel and Iran rages, three US officials said. One of the officials said the deployments include F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft.

Two of the officials stressed the defensive nature of the deployment of fighter aircraft, which have been used to shoot down drones and projectiles. - Reuters

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have said that air raid sirens were sounded in northern Israel after a hostile aircraft infiltrated the airspace, Reuters reported.

As US President Donald Trump returned to Washington after cutting short his G7 Summit trip to Canada and two US officials have said that the president is weighing options and warming up to the idea of using US military assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, CNN reported.

According to the report, Israel is awaiting the response of the White House whether or not President Trump would help Tel Aviv in finishing the job of destroying Iran’s nuclear program.

Air defenses situated in Iran's capital Tehran are repelling the projectiles fired upon by Israel, the semi-official Iranian outlet Mehr News Agency reported.

The news agency posted a video related to the incident on its X page wherein flashes could be seen in the sky as explosions were heard throughout Tehran, CNN reported.

The Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has issued an evacuation order for the neighbourhoods in Israel's capital city Tel Aviv, reported Iran's local media.

The development comes after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it intercepted two drones flying from the east, which led to the red alert sirens in the Dead Sea region of Israel, BBC reported.

Israeli military is targeting Khojir missile production facility in Iran's capital Tehran in its latest strike, Iranian state media has said, as reported by Reuters.

The Khojir missile production facility is significant to Iran as it is a ballistic missile-related infrastructure and it was targeted by Israel in October 2024.

The semi-official state media Mehr news agency confirmed on X that Iranian military has launched Fattah-1 missile at Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) described the latest phase of the operation as a 'turning point,' saying the deployment of first-generation Fattah missiles marked 'the beginning of the end' for Israel’s 'mythical' missile defence systems," BBC reported quoting state-owned Press TV.

Iran has launched Fattah missiles toward Israel on early Wednesday, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.

According to Iran, Fattah missiles are a “hypersonic” missile that travels at Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound (about 3,800 miles per hour, 6,100 kilometers per hour), CNN reported.

The US is shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel from Iranian attacks as President Donald Trump warns Tehran to step back from the conflict. Trump's social media posts saying his patience with Iran was “wearing thin" have raised the possibility of deepening U.S. involvement, perhaps by using its bunker-busting bomb to strike a key Iranian nuclear site built deep underground in the mountains. Israel doesn't have the massive munition it would take to destroy the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, or the aircraft needed to deliver it.

Only the US does. As America's national security leaders discuss the next steps, the Pentagon has moved to ensure that its troops and bases in the region are protected. Here’s a look at the US military presence in the Middle East: US aircraft moving to the Middle East

In a social media post, Trump warned that “we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.” US officials insisted as of Tuesday that the American military has not taken any offensive actions against Iran, only defensive strikes to take out incoming Iranian missiles to protect Israel. Additional US fighter jets and refueling tankers have been deployed to the region, but officials have declined to provide specific numbers.

- AP

Israel claimed Tuesday to have killed a top Iranian general as it traded more strikes with its longtime foe, and US President Donald Trump warned Tehran's residents to evacuate while demanding that Iran surrender without conditions. Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters: “I’m not looking at a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.”

When asked to explain, he said the US wanted to see "a real end" to the conflict that could involve Iran “giving up entirely." He added: “I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.” Later on social media, he warned Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the US knows where he is hiding and called for Iran's “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER." It was not clear whether that was a suggestion for Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. Trump posted that there were no plans to kill Khamenei “at least not for now.” Despite warning that US “patience is wearing thin,” he indicated that diplomatic talks remained an option, and said he could send Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with the Iranians.

Iran offered no immediate response to the president's posts, but the country’s military leaders vowed that Israel would soon see more attacks. “The operations carried out so far have been solely for the purpose of warning and deterrence,” Gen. Abdul Rahim Mousavi, the commander in chief of Iran’s army, said in a video. “The punishment operation will be carried out soon.” Uncertainty roiled the region on the fifth day of Israel's air campaign aimed at Iran's military and nuclear program. Residents of Tehran fled their homes in droves.

- AP

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed that a fresh barrage of missiles were fired upon by Iran towards its capital city Tel Aviv and other central Israel region on Tuesday night.

Loud booms were heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Tuesday as Iran launched fresh wave of missiles at Israel and at least one has reportedly hit central Israel, reports BBC.

The explosions were heard in Tel Aviv after air raid sirens and alert went out to residents which asked them to take shelter in protected areas until further notice.

The Israel Defense Forces had earlier said that air force was operating to intercept and strike out the necessary threats.

Indian students in Iran's capital Tehran have been moved out of the city for safety in light of Iran's conflict with Israel while others who are "self-sufficient" in terms of transport have been advised to move out too, Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.

"Separately, some Indians have been facilitated to leave Iran through the border with Armenia. The Embassy remains continuously in touch with the community with a view to extending all feasible assistance," the ministry added.

A new wave of missiles were launched by Iran on Tuesday morning as Israel Defense Forces said that the strikes were targeted towards the territory of Israel. The Israeli defence systems are working to intercept the Iranian missiles.

Advising the residents to take shelter in protected area, IDF said "You must enter the protected areas upon receiving the alert, and remain there until further notice. Exiting the protected area will only be possible after receiving explicit instructions."

During an Israeli strike at Iran on Monday, the building of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Iran's state broadcaster was hit which left a news editor and a employee dead, Iranian state media IRNA reported.

Iran's local media earlier reported that only one staff member of the news organistaion was killed in the attack. As the headquarter of the IRIB was struck during a live broadcast, the blast could be heard and studio lights went off as debris fell over the studio.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting started broadcasting hours after the attack, BBC reported.

The United States embassy in Jerusalem has said that it is not in a position to "evacuate or directly assist" Americans who are departing Israel. The embassy, which was shut on Monday, said it will remain closed on Tuesday as well.

The embassy in Jerusalem further added that all US government employees and their family members should continue to remain in the protected shelters which are already in place and near their residences until any further notice.