Israel-Iran conflict: Flight carrying 310 Indians from Iran lands in New Delhi, 827 evacuated so far

Israel-Iran Conflict: A flight carrying 310 Indians from Iran landed in New Delhi on Saturday as the Centre continued to evacuate its nationals under Operation Sindhu, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

The flight, coming from Mashhad city of Iran, landed safely at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 4:30 pm on Saturday, he said.

With this, a total of 827 Indians have been evacuated.

This was the third flight in 24 hours from Iran that carried back Indian nationals to the country under Operation Sindhu.

Earlier in the day, a Mahan Air evacuation flight carrying 256 Indian students, the majority from the Kashmir valley, landed safely at the Delhi airport.

The families of the students, many of whom were stranded in Iran amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, were brought much needed relief as they landed in India.

As per a report by PTI, the students at the New Delhi airport were visibly exhausted but relieved after having escaped the conflict zones, which has seen Israel and Iran launching strikes at each other.

Kashmiris thank government

Jammu and Kashmir Students' Association in a statement thanked the Indian government for evacuating the students.

“Thanks to the Government of India for its efforts and timely coordination with Iranian authorities. We remain committed to ensuring the safe evacuation of all remaining students, especially those from vulnerable and remote regions,” it said.

Operation Sindhu

The evacuations are part of Operation Sindhu, launched by the Ministry of External Affairs last week in response to the worsening conflict between Israel and Iran.

The Indian authorities, in coordination with their Iranian counterparts, facilitated the movement of stranded students and other Indian nationals from Tehran to Mashhad before boarding.

Iran has also opened its airspace in a special gesture to support the evacuation under Operation Sindhu.

In all, nearly 1,000 Indian nationals are being brought home through a series of special flights. Two additional flights, including one from Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat (expected arrival around 3 am on Sunday), are also scheduled.

India is evacuating all its citizens from Iran, the Indian mission in Tehran said on Saturday.