India planning evacuation of nationals from Iran: Official sources

India is preparing to evacuate its citizens from Iran due to ongoing protests, official sources said on Thursday, January 15, 2026. MEA sources said Hindu The Indian Embassy in Tehran has started reaching out to Indian citizens to determine the scale of the logistics exercise required to conduct multiple airlift sorties between India and Iran.

Iran protests LIVE on January 15, 2026

Evacuation plans were initiated after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi discussed the developing situation in a phone call on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. Indian citizens, comprising students, pilgrims and business professionals, are concentrated in Iran’s major urban centers such as Qom, Tehran and Isfahan, and other urban centers scattered across Iran.

As Iran continues to block internet services on its territory that enable communication between the Indian embassy and citizens, coordination becomes difficult in current conditions. But some Indian citizens, especially students, were able to stay online, understandably because they had access to the internet services of neighboring countries such as Azerbaijan and Türkiye.

However, officials warned that evacuation remained challenging in the current situation as it would require support from Iran’s security services, which are currently weak in dealing with domestic law and order problems related to the uprising.

Indian authorities have warned against rumors in this context as it could be risky for large numbers of people to travel through protest-prone areas. Iran had temporarily closed its airspace on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, but reopened it on Thursday, January 15, 2026; This increased India’s chances of sending aircraft to Tehran. However, officials here claimed that the operation would require serious support from Iran.