India on Thursday advised its citizens not to travel to Iran by air or land after reports that some flights between the two countries had resumed.
The Indian embassy in Tehran also said in its latest advisory that “airspace restrictions and operational uncertainty due to regional tensions continue to affect international flight operations to and from Iran”.
“Due to the reports of the commencement of some flights between India and Iran and following earlier warnings, Indian citizens are strongly advised not to travel to Iran, whether by air or land,” the embassy said.
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It urged all Indian nationals currently in Iran to leave the country through designated land border routes in coordination with the embassy.
The embassy has also provided emergency contact numbers (989128109115, 989128109109, 989128109102 and 989932179359) and email (cons.tehran@mea.gov.in) for those in need.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended a ceasefire with Iran indefinitely, reportedly at the request of Pakistan to give Tehran leadership more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the conflict. The announcement came just hours before the original two-week ceasefire expired.
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According to official figures, about 9,000 Indians, including students, were in Iran when the conflict began on February 28, and about 1,800 have since returned to India.
The war reportedly began after a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior commanders, prompting retaliatory strikes that widened the conflict in the Persian Gulf region.
Middle East War: What’s Latest?
US President Donald Trump said he has ordered the military to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats that are disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as the US steps up mine clearance operations in the strategic waterway. The announcement further escalated tensions between Washington and Tehran in the Persian Gulf and raised doubts about continued efforts to end the conflict.
Separately, Trump said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend the ceasefire involving Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting marked the second round of high-level discussions between the two sides in a week. The original ten-day ceasefire, which began last Friday, was due to expire on Monday.
Here’s what the experts say
Tehran is seen as a more serious military threat than America’s adversaries in the Western Hemisphere, which is why Washington believes it must maintain a long-term military presence far from American soil.
Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz gives it strength during the shaky truce, as widening economic risks — particularly higher U.S. gas prices in an election year — could force Trump’s Republican administration to end its blockade of Iran’s ports and coast, experts say, as reported by the AP.
“Now it’s really a question of which country, the U.S. or Iran, has a greater tolerance for pain,” said Max Boot, a military historian and senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, AP reported.
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Donald Trump has repeatedly said during the truce that began on April 8 that his administration is in talks with Iranian officials interested in reaching a deal, while noting that his decision to target a few senior leaders has created some complications.
Earlier this week, he said the ceasefire would be extended to give Iran’s weakened leadership more time to prepare a “unified proposal” aimed at ending the conflict.
With input from agencies)
