India to Evacuate Nepalese and Sri Lankan Nationals from Iran Amid Growing Regional Tensions

Tehran – As tensions in the Middle East escalate, India has expanded its Operation Sindhu evacuation mission in Iran to include Nepalese and Sri Lankan nationals, following formal requests from the governments of Nepal and Sri Lanka.

In a post on social media platform X, the Indian Embassy in Tehran stated: “On request of the Governments of Nepal and Sri Lanka, the Indian Embassy’s evacuation efforts in Iran will also cover citizens of Nepal and Sri Lanka.”

To assist those in need, the embassy has released emergency contact numbers for immediate help: +989010144557, +989128109115, and +989128109109. A dedicated Telegram channel has also been set up for streamlined coordination and communication.

This decision comes in the wake of intensifying conflict between Iran and Israel, following the launch of Israel’s ‘Operation Rising Lion’, reportedly aimed at disabling Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure. Iran has retaliated with counterstrikes, leading to a rapid deterioration of security in the region.

In response to the crisis, India launched Operation Sindhu, aimed at evacuating its citizens from high-risk zones in Iran. On Saturday morning, a special evacuation flight from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, arrived in Delhi, carrying Indian nationals to safety.

This follows a successful evacuation late Friday night, during which 290 Indian students—most of them from Jammu and Kashmir—were flown home from Mashhad after Iran temporarily reopened its airspace.

So far, 517 Indian nationals have been successfully evacuated as part of the ongoing mission.

The Indian Embassy in Tehran and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) continue to work closely to coordinate logistics and ensure the safety of Indian and now Nepalese and Sri Lankan citizens.

Iran has also allowed three special charter flights to operate from Mashhad, facilitating the evacuation of nearly 1,000 Indian nationals, many of them students, amid the escalating unrest.

With inputs from IANS