A total of 292 Indian citizens were evacuated from Iran on a special flight from Mashhad to New Delhi on Tuesday, amidst conflict between Iran and Israel.
A total of 2295 Indian citizens have been brought home from Iran so far.
In a post on X, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jiswal said, “292 Indian citizens were taken out from Iran on a special flight, which reached New Delhi from Mashhad on June 24 at 0330 am.”
Baljinder Kaur, a resident of Punjab, who was expelled from Iran, has been living in Iran for 21 years and works as a Hindi teacher there, said that it is a matter of pride in the government’s efforts to vacate their citizens during difficult times.
“… It feels great. Apna desh apna hi hai. But there too (Iran), we never had to face any difficulty. The situation has changed in the last few days; otherwise, we are safe there too. I have been living there for 21 years and work as a Hindi teacher … Whenever the country or its citizens are given good.”
Zeeva Jafri of Nagpur, who has also taken out from Iran, said, “We are very grateful, very happy. It looks very good. Our flight was scheduled for June 19, but it was canceled. We were worried, but we have been easily put by coming here.”
The withdrawal is part of India’s ongoing ‘Operation Indus’ to ensure a safe return of its citizens.
Under Operation Sindhu, the Government of India on Monday safely vacated 290 Indian citizens and another group of Sri Lankan from Sangharsh-Hit Mashhad in Iran.
The conflict began on June 13 when Israel launched a massive airstrikes at the Iranian military and nuclear sites, named “Operation Rising Lion”. In vengeance, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a large -scale drone and missile campaign called ‘Operation True Promise 3’, targeting Israeli fighter jet fuel production facilities and energy supply centers.
Tensions went ahead after the US carried out an accurate airstrike on three major Iranian nuclear facilities under the “Operation Midnight Hammer” on Sunday morning.
CNN reported that Iran launched several missiles at US military establishments in Qatar and Iraq, including Al Udid Air Base in Qatar, the largest American military base in the region. (AI)