Israel Vs Iran: Indian Students In Iran Seek Assistance In Evacuation

With Israel forces striking the strategic military and nuclear sites in Iran and Tel Aviv, Indian students in the country have appealed to the government for evacuation. The students said that they were feeling unsafe due to the air strikes by Israel and urged the Indian government for necessary assistance. The students feared that the volatile situation might escalate in the coming days.

Students pursuing medicine at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences said they were feeling scared, even when the university authorities visited them and advised them to remain calm.

One of the students at the university said that they felt the land shake after the attack started around 3.30 am early this morning. “Though the situation is calm and we are safe, the atmosphere here is filled with fear,” a second-year MBBS student told an Indian news agency.

Another student from Uttar Pradesh, studying in the same university, said the embassy asked them to email their local addresses and contact details, in case of any emergency. With uncertainty over the security situation, and communication access cut down due to internet disruption in some areas, the students feel it they would be evacuated.

The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association has written to the External Affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar requesting immediate intervention and assisting the Indian students studying in Iran. The Association raised concern over the closure of airspace and increased military action in areas they were living. Several students also reported of hearing air raid sirens and feeling tremors.

Israel launched military operation against Iran on Friday stating it was aimed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, as Iran approaches weapons-grade uranium enrichment capabilities.

However, Iran maintained that its programme was peaceful in nature. Israel mainly targeted Iran’s nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz, radar stations and surface-to-air missile sites. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the strikes were aimed at Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure.

Iran also launched a retaliatory attack, sending a swarm of drones towards Israel. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of a “severe punishment” following Israel’s offensive.