Iran opens airspace for India's evacuation operation, flight carrying students to reach Delhi tonight

At least 1,000 Indian students, stranded across various Iranian cities, are expected to land in Delhi over the next two days as part of the government's emergency evacuation programme, Operation Sindhu.

The first Indian flight is due to land at 11:00 PM IST on Friday, followed by two more on Saturday, one in the morning and another in the evening.

The Iranian airspace is closed to most international flights during its ongoing missile exchanges and drone attacks involving Israeli and Iranian forces.

India has been granted an exclusive corridor to carry out the evacuation of its students.

India on Wednesday announced launching 'Operation Sindhu' to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran as the Persian Gulf nation is engaged in a conflict with Israel.

The first batch of 110 Indian students evacuated from Iran under Operation Sindhu has safely arrived in New Delhi on a special flight from Yerevan in Armenia on Wednesday.

The Iranian embassy officials in Delhi said the Iranian foreign ministry was in close touch with the Indian mission in Tehran after some students were injured.

"India accords highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

More than 4,000 Indian nationals reside in Iran, with half of them being students.

The latest conflict started when Israel launched 'Operation Rising Lion' targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure. This prompted massive retaliatory attacks from Tehran, including missile salvos and drone strikes that have reportedly killed over 20 civilians in Israeli towns and injured several hundred.