The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday that more than 1,150 Indian citizens have exited Iran over the past month, using land routes through Armenia and Azerbaijan amid the ongoing West Asia conflict. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also confirmed that three Indian nationals were injured in attacks reported in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
Speaking at a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Indian embassy in Tehran has helped 1,171 citizens, including 818 students, leave Iran via land routes into Armenia and Azerbaijan. He added that these individuals are now returning to India on flights from those neighboring countries.
Jaiswal further detailed that 977 Indians crossed into Armenia, while another 194 entered Azerbaijan.
Official figures indicate that nearly 9,000 Indians, many of them students, were present in Iran when the conflict began after strikes on Iranian targets by Israel and the United States on February 28.
Providing an update on recent incidents, Aseem Mahajan, Additional Secretary (Gulf) in the MEA, said three Indians sustained minor injuries in attacks in Dubai. He noted that all of them are undergoing treatment at local hospitals, with one already discharged.
So far, eight Indian nationals have lost their lives in the ongoing West Asia conflict. Earlier this week, one Indian was killed in Kuwait following an Iranian strike on a power and water desalination facility.
In another incident last week, an Indian citizen was among two people killed in the UAE when debris from intercepted missiles fell onto a street. On March 18, an Indian national was killed in an Iranian strike on Riyadh.
On March 13, a drone attack in Sohar, Oman, claimed the lives of two Indians and injured ten others. Additionally, three Indian sailors have died in earlier attacks on merchant vessels.
Mahajan also confirmed that the mortal remains of two Indian seafarers arrived in India on Wednesday. One of them was killed in an attack on the merchant vessel Safesea Vishnu near Iraq on March 11, while the other died in Kuwait on March 29.
Over the past few weeks, India has intensified its diplomatic outreach to ensure the safety and security of nearly 10 million Indian nationals residing across West Asia.
