‘Can’t express the relief’: 2 special flights bring 517 Indians home amid Iran–Israel tension

New Delhi: Special evacuation flights carrying Indian nationals landed in Delhi late Friday night and early Saturday as part of the Indian government’s ‘Operation Sindhu’, launched to bring citizens home amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel. The first evacuation flight from Mashhad, Iran, arrived in New Delhi at 11.30 pm on Friday with 290 passengers onboard, followed by another flight from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, which landed at 3 am on Saturday. So far, 517 Indian nationals have been brought back home under the operation.

Many of the evacuees were students from Jammu and Kashmir, along with pilgrims and others from different parts of the country. Emotional scenes unfolded at the airport as chants of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ echoed through the terminal, with several returnees embracing each other in relief.

“The Indian government has done a lot for us. I can't express what peace you feel when you reach your own country,” said one of the returnees, who had travelled to Iran on a pilgrimage.

Among those onboard were students from Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, and West Bengal. Many had been studying medicine in Iran and were caught off guard as the regional conflict flared up, disrupting normal travel routes and raising safety concerns.

“This was a journey full of struggles,” said a medical student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. “Our parents were extremely worried. The help we received from our embassy was immense.”

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had launched Operation Sindhu last week in response to the deteriorating security situation in the region. On Thursday, 110 students had already returned to India via Armenia and Doha.

Arun Kumar Chatterjee, Secretary (Consular, Passport and Visa) at the MEA, confirmed the successful arrival of the third evacuation flight. “Out of the 290 Indians who landed today, 190 are from Jammu and Kashmir. It’s a matter of happiness that Iran opened its airspace to facilitate this operation. It reflects the strong ties between India and Iran,” he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, which worked closely with Indian authorities throughout the evacuation process, issued a statement thanking the government for its “timely support” and called the return “a great relief for families who had been anxiously waiting.”

Officials said the success of the operation hinged on Iran’s cooperation in allowing the use of its airspace. Evacuees were moved from Tehran to Mashhad, from where flights coordinated between Iranian airlines and Indian authorities began ferrying citizens back home.

Two more evacuation flights are expected to arrive later on Saturday, including one from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In total, around 1,000 Indian nationals are being brought home under the ongoing mission.

The evacuation comes against the backdrop of several days of aerial strikes and military escalations between Iran and Israel, which disrupted normal civilian movement and prompted urgent action from New Delhi to secure the safety of its citizens abroad.