India evacuates over 3,000 nationals from Iran, Israel

As many as 268 Indian nationals were evacuated by an IAF plane under Operation Sindhu from Egypt this morning. They had crossed over to Egypt from Israel by road. So far, over 3,000 Indians have been evacuated from Iran and Israel under Operation Sindhu.

A special flight from Iran carrying 281 Indian nationals, along with three Sri Lankan and two Nepalese citizens, also arrived in New Delhi this evening.

With this, the total number of Indians brought back from Iran under Operation Sindhu has reached 2,576, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

An IAF C-17 aircraft that took off from Sharm-El-Sheikh landed in Delhi this morning. The passengers were welcomed by Minister of State in the MEA L Murugan.

Spokesperson for the MEA Randhir Jaiswal, in a post on X, said, “As many as 268 Indian nationals from Israel returned in the third flight (from Egypt).” It landed in Delhi at 11 am today, Jaiswal said.

So far, 594 Indians have returned from Israel as part of Operation Sindhu.

Earlier, 165 Indian nationals were evacuated by the IAF from Jordan amid the Israel-Iran conflict.

The IAF said, “A C-17 aircraft commenced missions from Jordan and Egypt to evacuate Indian nationals and citizens of friendly countries.”

Jaiswal said the Israel leg of Operation Sindhu started on June 23. He said the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad remained the government’s top priority.

The Indian Embassy in Tehran has already announced that all Indian nationals in Iran will be evacuated. Iran is home to about 10,000 Indians, many of them students enrolled in professional courses, and a sizeable number of Indian pilgrims were in the country when the hostilities erupted after Israel’s airstrikes on June 13.