In a rare humanitarian gesture amid intensifying hostilities with Israel, Iran has opened its restricted airspace to facilitate the evacuation of over 1,000 Indian nationals.
The Indian government, under “Operation Sindhu,” has mounted a coordinated rescue effort to bring its stranded citizens home.
Announcing the move at a press briefing in New Delhi, Iran’s Deputy Chief of Mission, Mohammad Javad Hosseini, said three special flights have been arranged from Mashhad to Delhi.
The first flight is expected to land at 11:30 PM IST tonight, with a second one from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, some 50 km from the Iran Turkmenistan border, scheduled to arrive around 3 AM.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs reaffirmed its commitment to the safety of citizens abroad, stating, “The government of India accords the highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad.”
Iran’s decision to allow Indian flights through its largely closed airspace underscores the severity of the ongoing crisis. The evacuation route involved relocating citizens from Tehran to Mashhad via Qom. In a parallel effort, 110 Indian students were evacuated overland to Armenia, from where they flew out of Yerevan on June 18.
The backdrop to these evacuations is the rapidly escalating war between Iran and Israel, which began with Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities on June 13. Since then, retaliatory missile and drone attacks have claimed more than 650 lives in Iran, including over 260 civilians, and injured over 2,000. Israeli casualties include at least 24 dead and hundreds injured.
As fears of a broader regional conflict and potential nuclear escalation grow, India’s swift diplomatic response and Iran’s cooperation stand out as rare instances of calm coordination in a region on edge.
