India Scales Up Rescue Efforts, Airlifts Nearly 3,000 Citizens from Conflict-Hit Iran and Israel

India has intensified its evacuation efforts under Operation Sindhu, successfully bringing home nearly 3,000 Indian nationals from the conflict-hit regions of Iran and Israel by Tuesday morning.

Using C-17 aircraft from the Indian Air Force and multiple chartered flights, the mission focused on transporting citizens who had moved out of Israel by road to safer neighboring countries. Over 600 Indians were flown out from Jordan and Egypt following tense cross-border conditions.

On Tuesday morning, a group of 161 Indians who had crossed into Jordan from Israel arrived in New Delhi at 8:20 am on a chartered flight from Amman. Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita welcomed the group upon arrival, as confirmed by MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita and MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal welcomed the group at the airport.

Shortly after, another contingent of 165 Indians arrived from Amman in a C-17 flight and were received by Union Minister L Murugan. Simultaneously, nearly 300 citizens who had crossed from Israel to Egypt via the Taba border were flown to India from Sharm-el-Sheikh in another military aircraft.

Evacuations were briefly hampered by airspace restrictions triggered by Iranian missile strikes in the region on Monday night, delaying some scheduled flights.

Parallel operations in Iran also saw continued progress. A chartered flight from Mashhad brought 292 Indians to New Delhi at 3:30 am on Tuesday, raising the total number of evacuees from Iran to 2,295 since last week.

Initially, Indians in Iran were moved to Armenia by road. Once airspace restrictions were eased last Friday, flights resumed directly from Iran’s Mashhad. The Indian Embassy in Tehran has assured that all Indian citizens in Iran will be evacuated. Approximately 10,000 Indians reside in Iran, including students and pilgrims caught in the crisis after Israel’s June 13 air strikes.

In Israel, where over 32,000 Indians are present—mostly working as caregivers and construction workers—India had advised those wishing to leave to travel overland to Jordan or Egypt for onward evacuation.