Under Operation Sindhu, 827 Indian nationals brought back from Iran so far: MEA
India on Wednesday launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate its nationals from Iran amid the escalating conflict with Israel in the Middle East region.
Amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East region, the external affairs ministry on Saturday said that a total of 827 Indian nationals have returned home from Tehran under 'Operation Sindhu' so far.
Several Indian nationals, including students, arrived in Delhi late on Friday and on Saturday after being evacuated from Iran as it continued to trade fire with Israel for a second week. Follow Iran Israel war live updates
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal took to X to share an update on the evacuation operation and said, "#OperationSindhu Another evacuation flight from Mashhad landed in New Delhi at 16:30 hrs on 21 June with 310 Indian nationals from Iran. With this, a total of 827 Indians have been evacuated."
India on Wednesday launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate its citizens from Iran.
Another special flight from Turkmenistan's Ashgabat brought back several Indian nationals home in the early hours of Saturday, landing in the national capital at 03:00 am on June 21.
ALSO READ | First of 3 flights evacuating Indians from Iran’s Mashhad lands in Delhi
A charter flight evacuated 290 Indian nationals from Iran, arriving in New Delhi late on Friday, at 11:30 pm. The citizens were received by Secretary (CPV & OIA) Arun Chatterjee at the airport. "Government of India is grateful to the Government of Iran for the facilitation of the evacuation process," Jaiswal added in his X post.
The first batch of 110 Indian nationals evacuated from Iran arrived in India on Thursday, with evacuees expressing gratefulness and sharing first-hand accounts of the terrifying situation in Iran. They were welcomed at the Delhi airport by minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh.
Israel-Iran conflict
The conflict between Israel and Iran entered its ninth day on Saturday, with Israeli strikes hitting a nuclear facility in the Iranian city of Isfahan once again.
Several explosions were also reported in southwestern Iran, as the Israeli military said that it was striking "military infrastructure" in Tehran.
ALSO READ | Tears, cheers, relief at Delhi airport as Indians from Iran reunite with families
Iran's health ministry said that more than 400 persons were killed in the Israeli strikes on the country and over 3,000 others were injured.
Meanwhile, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly has named three clerics as possible successors amid assassination threats from Israel. The New York Times reported, citing three Iranian officials, that Khamenei has begun appointing replacements for top military commanders who were killed in the Israeli strikes. However, the supreme leader's son, Mojtaba, is reportedly not among those named to succeed Khamenei.
