NEW DELHI: India on Sunday brought home 311 more citizens from the Iranian city of Mashhad amid intensifying conflict between Iran and Israel, taking the total number of evacuees to 1,428 under the ongoing Operation Sindhu. The latest batch of Indians arrived in Delhi at 4:30 pm on a special chartered flight. “Three-hundred eleven Indian nationals arrived in New Delhi on a special flight from Mashhad at 1630 hours on June 22,” ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “A total of 1,428 Indian nationals have been evacuated from Iran so far.” India launched Operation Sindhu last week to ensure the safe return of its nationals from both Iran and Israel after missile and drone strikes between the two nations escalated dramatically. The situation worsened further following US airstrikes on three major Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday morning. Evacuation efforts have involved multiple flights from Iran’s Mashhad, Armenia’s capital Yerevan, and Turkmenistan’s Ashgabat. According to the MEA, Iran lifted airspace restrictions on Friday to allow three evacuation flights from Mashhad. The first chartered flight from Iran carrying 290 Indians arrived in Delhi late Friday, followed by a second one with 310 passengers on Saturday afternoon. Another group was flown in from Yerevan on Thursday, and a special flight from Ashgabat landed early Saturday. India continues to monitor the volatile situation in the region and is working to ensure the safe return of all citizens caught in the crossfire.
