First Flight Carrying 290 Indian Students from Iran Lands in Delhi as Operation Sindhu Begins
The first evacuation flight under India’s ‘Operation Sindhu’ safely brought home 290 Indian students from Iran late Friday night, as Tehran temporarily reopened its airspace for the humanitarian operation. The Mahan Air chartered flight, which took off from Mashhad, landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport around 11:40 pm, marking the start of a multi-phase rescue mission amid rising tensions in the region.
India launched Operation Sindhu earlier this week to evacuate nearly 1,000 nationals, primarily students, stranded in Iran following the escalation of hostilities between Iran and Israel. With the Iranian airspace largely closed to commercial operations, Indian authorities, in coordination with their Iranian counterparts, arranged special charter flights for safe passage.
“The first flight will land tonight at the New Delhi airport and there will be two more flights on Saturday,” said Mohammad Javad Hosseini, deputy chief of mission at the Iranian embassy in New Delhi, during a media briefing on Friday. “We consider Indians as our own people. Iran’s airspace is closed, but because of this issue, we are making arrangements to open it for the safe passage of Indian nationals.”
The second flight under the operation is expected to arrive from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Saturday morning around 10:00 am, while the third is scheduled to land on Saturday evening. All flights are being operated through Mahan Air, an Iranian carrier working in close coordination with Indian authorities to execute the evacuation plan swiftly.
The government of India had announced Operation Sindhu amid growing concerns about the safety of Indian citizens, particularly students, in Iran as tensions with Israel spiraled into sporadic missile exchanges and military alerts. With the region’s airspace under restrictions and the security situation fluid, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Tehran moved quickly to organize evacuation corridors.
Families of the evacuated students expressed relief as they reunited with their children at the Delhi airport, many thanking the Indian government for acting swiftly. Officials at the airport facilitated the arrival process, ensuring health screenings and immigration clearances were completed smoothly.
The evacuation is expected to continue over the coming days until all registered Indian nationals are brought home. Indian authorities have urged citizens in Iran to remain in touch with the embassy and consulates, follow advisories closely, and stay updated on travel arrangements.
Operation Sindhu follows India’s long-standing tradition of conducting large-scale evacuations in crisis zones, and comes on the heels of recent successful missions from Ukraine and Sudan.
IT.
