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Special flights between India and Iran to evacuate citizens start Friday
The Indian government said a team of medical professionals had reached Iran to carry out tests for the infection on the stranded Indians and those found uninfected will soon be evacuated using normal aviation channels.
Iran has announced special flights to evacuate its citizens stranded in India after regular commercial flights between the two countries were suspended due to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
News agency ANI quoted an Iranian embassy official to say that an empty flight will arrive in Delhi tomorrow to fly back Iranian nationals to Tehran, Iran’s capital. The official said another flight will arrive on Saturday to carry Indian equipment to Iran.
“Iran will send an empty flight to India (Delhi) tomorrow to take back the Iranian nationals from India to Tehran & one more flight will come to India a day after tomorrow to carry Indian equipment to Iran for stranded Indian nationals,” ANI said.
Several Indians including students, pilgrims and fishermen are stranded since a sharp escalation in the cases of coronavirus in Iran. A total of 107 people have succumbed to the disease there so far.
The Indian government said a team of medical professionals had reached Iran to carry out tests for the infection on the stranded Indians and those found uninfected will soon be evacuated using normal aviation channels. A date for evacuation was, however, not specified in the briefing held by the ministry of external affairs on Thursday.
The Iranian embassy official quoted by ANI said about 2000 Indians were stranded in Iran and their evacuation was incumbent on “proper approval” of the Indian authority.
“From tomorrow, special flights will start between Iran and India for the stranded passengers. Over 2000 Indians are stranded in Iran. We can send them back to India only after proper approval of Indian authority,” the agency quote of the official said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had tweeted earlier in the day saying the government hoped to establish the first clinic at Qom in Iran to screen Indians for coronavirus by Thursday evening and the screening process, he said, will start immediately after the setup.
His ministry later added that those who test positive will have to stay back in Iran for further treatment as per the international protocols.
