The Middle East is plunged into turmoil following joint US-Israel missile strikes on Iran, which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliatory attacks and widespread instability across the region. The conflict has disrupted air travel, forced airport closures, and prompted India to issue urgent advisories urging its citizens in Iran, Israel, and Gulf countries, including the UAE, to exercise utmost caution.
Indian students in Iran
Around 3,000 Indian students are said to stuck in Iran, including nearly 2,000 from Jammu and Kashmir. About 1,100–1,200 remain in conflict zones. Nasir Khuehami, National Convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, told ANI that a formal request has been sent to PM Modi for immediate evacuation.
“This morning, we saw that after the conflict between Iran and Israel, in which Israeli forces attacked Iran, our citizens there, especially Indian students and Indian citizens who have studied and worked there for many years, are very worried… Their families, particularly those in the Kashmir Valley, are very frightened, anxious, and in distress. The number of students from the Kashmir Valley is the highest. There are around 3,000 Indian students, and among them, around 2,000 Kashmiri students… Still, our 1100-1200 students are there… They want us to evacuate them immediately… Today, we wrote a letter to PM Modi, in which we requested him to launch a full-fledged evacuation operation so that our stranded citizens can be evacuated immediately. The Government of India should open diplomatic channels and raise the issue with their counterparts,” he said.
Till then, students have been advised to move to safer locations and stay indoors, by the MEA.
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Students plead to government
Several Indian students stuck in Iran shared their ordeal, urging Indian government to help evacuate.
Ayesha, an Indian student, stranded in Iran said that she was forced to stay to avoid failing her exams. “We all are cut off from the internet. We are hearing bomb sounds every 15 minutes. It is very disturbing here. When our embassy gave us the advisory to leave Iran, our university didn’t cooperate. They said if you leave, you will fail… Universities, hospitals, and everything is closed for 15 days right now. We are very thankful to the embassy; we are in contact with them… They are also helpless right now because the airspace is banned here from every country. We are not able to evacuate,” she said.
Another Indian student in Tehran made a plea to the Indian government for immediate evacuation. She said, “I am an Indian student and currently I’m in Tehran. The situation here feels really bad and uncertain. We really don’t know what’s going to happen next. We are very grateful that the Government of India and the Ministry of External Affairs are in discussions regarding our safety, but in times like these, speed matters a lot. I am not even able to speak properly because air strikes are happening and the situation is getting worse for us. We request a quicker and clear evacuation as soon as possible. Please do not wait for the situation to get worse. Just help us. Please get us out of here as soon as possible.”
“Air strikes since morning, we are stuck,” said an Indian student in Iran urging India to start evacuation.
Indians stranded in UAE and Gulf countries
Several travellers from Madhya Pradesh had gone to Dubai and Sharjah for tourism and business purposes when the crisis erupted. In the UAE, over 700 people from Madhya Pradesh, including former MLA and BJP leader Sanjay Shukla, are unable to return due to cancelled flights and temporary airport shutdowns.
Shukla shared a video on social media showing smoke from explosions kilometres away and appealed to PM Narendra Modi for assistance, adding that his son is also stranded with him. Former Depalpur MLA Vishal Patel and other travellers are similarly waiting for the situation to normalise before returning to India.
