First batch of nearly 70 Indians stuck in Iran returns; students recount ‘panic’ amid war

NEw new delhi/Srinagar: “I feature landed and Alhamdulillah! I am safe,” 22-year-old Naina Toiba told her comrade o'er the speech sound, moments after reaching the baggage hall at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday morning, relief in her voice after days spent under the shadow of war in Iran.Toiba was among around 70 Indian students and pilgrims, most of them from Jammu and Kashmir, who landed in Delhi on Sunday on a commercial Flydubai flight after undertaking a nearly four-day journey by road and air to escape the conflict-hit country.ALSO READ | Stranded in Iran: 70 Indian students, mostly from J&K, arrive in New DelhiThe group travelled by bus from universities across Iran to the Iran–Armenia border, crossed into Armenia, and then flew from Yerevan to Dubai before boarding a connecting flight to Delhi, as Iranian airspace remains closed following the war that began on February 28.For many students, the journey home marked the end of days spent in fear as bombardments intensified around them.Toiba, an MBBS student at Urmia University of Medical Sciences and a resident of Anantnag, recalled nights filled with the roar of fighter jets and explosions.“I was staying in an apartment when a bombing occurred just 200 metres away, shattering the building’s glass. I immediately moved to a friend’s apartment,” she said. “With no internet or TV to know what was happening, we turned to books and studying as an escape.”She said the students stocked up on grains and basic supplies as the situation deteriorated.“I felt hopeless throughout, starting each day thinking it could be my last. It was only after we crossed the Armenia land border that I truly believed we could reach home safely,” she said.Tahir, a fifth-year MBBS student from Kupwara, said the danger escalated after the initial days of the conflict.“When the war first began, the US and Israeli forces targeted only IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and Kurdish military bases. But later residential areas, schools and hospitals started being bombed. That’s when our desperation to return home peaked,” he said.Many international students from countries such as Turkey and Iraq were able to leave early because they faced fewer visa restrictions, he said, while Indian students remained stranded.“A few days ago some of us were running out of money, and the only way to survive was by borrowing from each other as money transfers weren’t possible,” Tahir said, adding that his journey back cost around ₹55,000.Students said uncertainty about university rules had also delayed their departure.Sohail Amin, another student from Srinagar, said universities initially warned students that leaving before final examinations could result in failure.“A month before the war, the Indian Embassy began issuing advisories to leave Iran, but university officials said the advisory was generic and that Indian students would be allowed to leave only if a specific advisory was issued for them,” he said after nearly 96 hours of travel to reach Delhi.ALSO READ | Here's why the US-Israel-Iran war should be an eye-opener for IndiaCommunication with families was also limited as internet services were disrupted.“We could barely speak to our parents. Even during the short calls we had, some of us felt we should hide the situation to avoid panic, while others wanted to tell the truth so families could raise the issue with authorities,” said another final-year student who did not want to be named.According to Jammu and Kashmir Students Union (JKSA), the evacuation was coordinated by the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian missions in Tehran and Yerevan, which helped arrange the transit route through Armenia and Dubai.Most of the returning students study in universities including Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and other institutions across Iran.Despite the first batch returning safely, more than 1,000 Indian students, many of them from Jammu and Kashmir, are still believed to be stranded in Iran as the conflict continues.Nasir Khuehami, National Convenor of JKSA, said more students are currently in Dubai and expected to arrive in India on Monday, but urged the government to launch a full-scale evacuation operation similar to those carried out during the Ukraine crisis.After landing in Delhi, the Jammu and Kashmir government arranged AC sleeper buses to take many of the returning students home, while others opted to continue their journey by flight, relieved simply to have made it out alive.