Indian students evacuated from Iran ponder their futures

Since the ceasefire between Israel and Iran was announced on Tuesday 24 June, Indian students who were recently evacuated from Iran have begun to evaluate their future academic prospects. While the situation in Iran appears to have stabilised for now, uncertainty remains, especially for students whose universities sustained damage during the recent hostilities.

According to the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education on 25 June, Israeli military attacks since 12 June have killed more than 600 people and wounded over 5,300 others. The capital, Tehran, and the city of Kermanshah in Western Iran suffered the highest number of fatalities and injuries, a ministry spokesperson said.

The official Mehr news agency confirmed on 25 June that 16 university professors and 11 students were killed during the Israeli airstrikes, describing nine of the deceased as “key to the nation's academic and scientific backbone”.

The full list of names published by the agency included 13 professors of nuclear and atomic physics from Shahid Baheshti University, Imam Hussein University and Malek Ashtar university, affiliated with the Ministry of Defence. All three universities were hit by airstrikes.

Thousands of Tehran residents fled the city last week. Foreign students evacuated from Iran said there was heavy bombardment around the capital for several nights from 12 June onwards.

While some countries are currently winding down evacuations, Indonesia is continuing to evacuate its nationals, mainly students, despite the ceasefire claims, the Indonesian foreign ministry said on 25 June.

Almost 100 Indonesians have been evacuated to Baku in Azerbaijan, which Indonesian officials said was just the first phase of evacuation, with a second phase planned.

The ministry recorded at least 386 Indonesian citizens residing in Iran, most of them students in the city of Qom, some 140 kilometres south of Tehran. At least 194 Indonesian citizens are currently in Israel, primarily student interns.

Meanwhile, Uganda’s government said on 26 June it had evacuated 41 Ugandan students from Iran.

India’s foreign ministry said 282 Indians, mostly students, reached Delhi on 25 June on a special flight. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on social media platform X that 2,858 Indians have been evacuated thus far from Iran under the Indian government’s “Operation Sindhu” launched after the conflict between Iran and Israel started.

On 24 June alone, over 1,100 Indian citizens were evacuated. This included 573 Indians, along with three Sri Lankan and two Nepalese nationals, who were flown out on two chartered flights from Iran, while 594 Indians were repatriated from Israel.

In light of the ceasefire, the Indian embassy in Iran said it has begun the “gradual closure” of its operation to evacuate its citizens and students. The embassy has ceased evacuation registrations and advised Indian nationals to remain vigilant and keep abreast of official updates.

Embassy officials said the government is keeping a careful eye on the evolving situation and will re-evaluate its strategy in case the security of Indian nationals in Iran is again under threat.

But universities in Tehran are not operating normally, with campuses mainly shut.

On 23 June, Iran’s minister of science, research and technology announced on a live television broadcast that all final exams for public and private universities will be held in the first week of September. He emphasised that holding virtual exams was strictly prohibited, and all exams must be conducted in person.

Attack on Shahid Beheshti University

Several institutions, including the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, were reportedly damaged during the missile attacks. Iran’s government-affiliated Mehr news agency said in a brief dispatch on 23 June the university had been hit. However, detailed information about the extent of the destruction and its impact on students remains scarce.

Iran Student Media reported on 23 June that a complex of facilities and laboratories “related to nuclear activities at Shahid Beheshti University, located near Evin prison” was targeted. “These centres, which have been sites of covert scientific-military activities for years, have now been severely damaged,” Iran Student Media claimed.

Amir-Hossein Feqhi, a faculty member at Shahid Beheshti University who previously served as vice-president of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) and as head of the Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Abdolhamid Minouchehr, head of the Nuclear Engineering Faculty at Shahid Beheshti University, and Ahmad-Reza Zolfaqari, a nuclear engineering scientist at Shahid Beheshti University, were among more than a dozen Iranian scientists killed between 13 and 16 June during Israeli air strikes, Science and Technology Minister Hossein Simaei-Sarraf was quoted by Iranian news agency IRNA as saying.

Some of them were killed along with their family members at their homes, the official added. Israel had deliberately targeted scientists with military expertise.

Mohammed Harris Khan, a fourth-year medical student at Shahid Beheshti University, has returned to his hometown of Bhopal in central India. He is anxious about the future.

“We have limited information about the damage to our university. There is no formal update on when classes will resume,” Khan told University World News.

“While in Iran, we experienced terrifying moments, hearing the sounds of missiles and fighter aircraft. It was the first time we had encountered such a situation,” he said.

His father, Dr Shahid Khan, a medical officer, told University World News: “We have not decided about the next course of action. If we see complete peace, then we will send him back. He has already completed four years and not much [time] is left. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Another student, Mohammed Taqim, a second-year student at Shahid Beheshti University, is also back in India. “When we left, our university was perfect, but nearby places were attacked. We were living in constant fear, and later we were shifted to a safer place and then evacuated to India. I feel that after the ceasefire, hopefully peace will prevail in the area,” he said.

He hoped to return soon for his studies. His father, Mir Raza Agha, said that after a complete ceasefire, they would have no worries about his return.

Student dormitories hit

Evacuated students from several countries said they witnessed the missile strikes that have occurred all over Tehran. Sania Zahra Zaidi, a second-year medical student at Tehran University who was evacuated by the Indian authorities and returned to her home in Haryana State in India this week, said her dormitory building shook due to an explosion nearby at 3.30 am on 12 June. In the morning students noted a bomb had exploded near their building.

Speaking to India’s ETV Bharat news channel, she said students were evacuated first to Qom in the south and then to Mashhad, at which point they came to know that their hostel had also come under attack.

She said some students from Kashmir were injured in the attack. She flew back to Delhi on 22 June and said she hopes to go back to resume her studies once things become normal after the ceasefire.

The Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association (JKSA) said two students from Kashmir had sustained minor injuries in a strike on a dormitory for international students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Nasir Khuehami, JKSA national convener, said: “While the injuries are not serious, the situation remains deeply concerning. The situation has left these students traumatised and terrified.’’

The university last week began relocating its students to Ramsar in the north of Iran.

Students share poignant accounts

Students shared poignant accounts of their experiences. Tahreen Khan, rescued from northern Iran, praised the Indian government’s operation's thoroughness and safety.

Maaz Khan, a second-year medical student from Kashmir studying at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, recounted his harrowing experience of being relocated many times amid the conflict but expressed his happiness at being back home.

Maaz said: “I’m happy to be home. During the conflict, I lost hope of returning safely. I’m grateful to the Indian government and the embassy for ensuring our safety and facilitating our return.”

He recounted that communication with his family became very difficult just two days after the attacks began on 12 June, as both internet and mobile networks went down. “We informed our family that we wouldn’t be able to talk much on the phone. I reassured them that everything is fine here, that we are safe, and there’s no need for them to worry,” he stated.

Many Kashmiri students expressed a desire to return to Iran to resume their studies once the situation stabilises. Iran is a favoured destination for these students due to its affordability, cultural familiarity, and religious connections, particularly among Shia Muslims.

According to Ministry of External Affairs data, about 2,050 Indian students were enrolled in Iranian institutions in 2022, primarily for medical studies, at institutions like the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University and Islamic Azad University. A significant number of the students are from Kashmir.

This article was updated on 27 June to include official figures of professors and students killed during the airstrikes.