NEW DELHI: Following joint strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran, over 200 Indian students from different universities in Tehran were shifted to Qom, a relatively safer city in Iran, located 140 km south of the capital. The students were shifted on Tuesday morning in buses.
The students, a majority from Jammu and Kashmir, were studying at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. A few engineering students also study in Iran.
Dr Mohammad Momin Khan, national representative of the All India Medical Students Association, told TNIE, "The Indian Embassy in Tehran facilitated all the arrangements. The students were shifted in five buses and have just reached Quom safely. Plans are on to shift other students spread across other places in Iran".
Syed Fazil, an engineering student, who was among those evacuated, told TNIE, "We feel safe now as we kept hearing sounds of blasts relentlessly at Tehran. We have reached Quom."
In a statement, the Association, which had repeatedly sought the intervention of the Indian government, thanked the Embassy.
The airspace over Iran and many countries in the Gulf Region continue to remain shut since February 28.