New Delhi: More than 1,150 Indian nationals have left Iran through land border crossings in Armenia and Azerbaijan since the conflict began in West Asia a month ago, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday.
It also said that three Indians were injured in attacks in the UAE on Tuesday.
“Our embassy in Tehran has facilitated the movement of 1,171 Indian nationals, including 818 students, to exit Iran through the land borders into Armenia and Azerbaijan,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press conference.
“From there, our citizens flew back to India,” he said.
Jaiswal said that 977 Indian citizens crossed from Iran to Armenia, and 194 to Azerbaijan.
According to official data, around 9,000 Indians, including students, were in Iran when the conflict began following attacks by Israel and the US on Iranian targets on February 28.
Asim Mahajan, Additional Secretary for Gulf Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that three Indian nationals were slightly injured in attacks that took place in Dubai on Tuesday.
“They are receiving medical treatment at local hospitals and one of them has since been discharged,” he added.
Eight Indian citizens have been killed in the conflict in West Asia so far. An Indian was killed this week in Kuwait in an Iranian raid on a power and water desalination plant.
Last week, an Indian national was among two people killed in the United Arab Emirates when debris from missiles intercepted by the country’s air defense system fell into a street.
On March 18, another Indian citizen was killed in an Iranian attack on Riyadh.
Two Indian nationals were killed and 10 others injured in a drone strike in Sohar, Oman, on March 13.
Three Indian sailors were killed in attacks on commercial ships earlier.
Mahajan said the bodies of an Indian sailor killed in an attack on the Safesea Vishnu merchant ship off the coast of Iraq on March 11, and another killed in Kuwait on March 29, arrived in the country on Wednesday.
In the past two weeks, India has intensified its diplomatic efforts to ensure the safety and security of 10 million Indian citizens living in West Asia.
