Indian students in Tehran are being evacuated to the city of Qom, 148 km away, amid an escalation in conflict between Israel and Iran.
This comes after the Indian government, in a statement early Monday, assured that students in the crisis-hit country were being relocated to “safer places” within the country.
More than 1,500 Indian students, most of them from Jammu and Kashmir, are stranded in Iran.
India had requested Iran for the stuck in cities hit by Israeli bombings. Tehran said that though the airspace is closed over Iran, all land borders are open for the safe evacuation of Indian nationals.
“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,” the Foreign Ministry of Iran said in a statement.
It also asked the Indian government to give the names, passport numbers and vehicle specifications of the people crossing the borders to its General Protocol Department. It also asked for the time of travel and the desired border, through which the person will exit the country, to make necessary arrangements for the safe travel of diplomats and other citizens.
On Sunday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar regarding students from the Union Territory stuck in Iran.
Students from Kashmir are studying in various universities across Iran, including Shahid Baheshti University and Iran University of Medical Science.
Imtisal Mohidin, a 22-year-old third-year MBBS student at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, said that over 350 Indian students are enrolled in his university alone.
“I woke up at 2:30 am on Friday to loud explosions and rushed to the basement. We haven’t slept since,” he was quoted by the news agency ANI.
Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” with a surprise attack on Friday morning that wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command and damaged its nuclear sites. Iran retaliated with air strikes, with both countries launching hundreds of missiles at each other in the last four days.
While Israel has said the campaign will continue to escalate in the coming days, Iran has vowed to “open the gates of hell” in retaliation.