Iranian family helps Malayalis caught in Israeli bombing take 10-hr road trip out of Tehran

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As Iran reels from a barrage of Israeli air strikes as part of 'Operation Rising Lion', fewer than 10 Malayalis are reported to be stranded there. Afzal and Mohammad, residents of Malappuram, who arrived in Tehran from Dubai for a business meeting, are being helped by an Iranian family to move to safer locations. Afzal told Onmanorama over phone that they narrowly escaped death and if not for the Iranian family, they would have been in serious danger in Tehran.
"We arrived last Monday. Our plan was to conclude the meeting and take the flight back to Dubai on Sunday. The air strikes began on Friday morning. When we contacted the Indian embassy, we were asked to stay inside the hotel. We remained here for two days, but explosions were happening all over the place. On Sunday, we decided to head to the embassy office, but we understood the office was shifted to another location. As we stood there, bombs started falling just near us. We kept running and we thought we were dead," said Afzal, who runs a business in Dubai.
The local people shouted at them to run towards an underground Metro station in Tehran. "We reached there and waited till the attack subsided. After some time, we again reached the hotel. Things started getting worse, and the embassy kept telling us to stay put in Tehran. The hotel was no longer safe, and it was then that the Iranian family offered us help. They suggested we move from Tehran to Yazd, an ancient city in Central Iran," said Afzal.

One of the company representatives who hosted the meeting took Afzal and Mohammad along with his family to Yazd. They started their journey at 4 am on Monday and reached Yazd after a gruelling 10 hours. "It was a dangerous trip. On the way, we saw missiles dropping and explosions in several places. But we now need the embassy's help to cross the border," said Afzal.
They now have to cross the border and take a flight either to India or Dubai. "It can be through Afghanistan, Pakistan or Armenia, we need the embassy's help. As of now we are safe, but don't know for how long," Afzal said. He is from Tirurangadi while his friend Mohammad is from Kottakkal. They said that the Iranian family has been really helpful but they need to find a way out of Iran.
NORKA Roots, the nodal agency for matters related to non-resident Keralites, has maintained contacts with Afzal. "We understand that fewer than 10 Malayalis are stuck there. We have been in touch with two people. We are constantly communicating with the Ministry of External Affairs to evacuate them from Iran," said Ajith Kolassery, CEO, NORKA Roots. According to the NORKA officials, they have no information about Kerala students currently stranded in Iran.
