- By Chetna Shree
- Fri, 20 Jun 2025 04:42 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Iran has opened its airspace exclusively for Indian evacuation flights under Operation Sindhu. 1000 students are set to return to Delhi in the next two days as a part of the evacuation program conducted by India to evacuate Indians from conflict-hit Iranian cities, NDTV reported. Iran's airspace remains closed for most international flights following missile and drone attacks.
The first flight is expected to land in Delhi at 11:00 PM on June 20. The other two flights carrying the rest of the passengers will land on Saturday, one in the morning and the other in the evening, as per the reports.
As many as thousands of Indians are stuck in conflict-hit Iranian cities. Among the 4,000 Indian nationals, there are more than 1500 students, mostly from Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, on Monday, Iran responded to India’s evacuation request, saying, “Given the current condition and the closure of the country's airports, as well as the request of many political missions to transfer their diplomats and nationals abroad, we inform that all land borders are open for crossing.” Though the airspace remained closed as Israel continued to bomb several targets in Iran, the Foreign Minister of Iran gave green light to the evacuation mission through land borders.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 110 students were safely evacuated from northern Iran and transported to Yerevan and Armenia by road. On June 18, at 2:55 PM, they were sent to India from Yerevan.
Indians in Iranian cities were being shifted to safer places with Embassy facilitation while looking out for other feasible options, the Foreign Ministry said. The Embassy of India in Tehran asked Indian nationals and Persons of Indian origin to remain vigilant, avoid unnecessary movements, follow the safety protocols and take information from the embassy’s social media accounts.