New Delhi [India], June 26 (ANI): As part of Operation Sindhu, a special flight carrying 272 Indian nationals and three Nepalese citizens from Iran landed in New Delhi from Mashhad at 5:31 AM IST on June 26, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

With this latest evacuation, the total number of Indian nationals brought back from Iran under Operation Sindhu has reached 3,426.

'#OperationSindhu update: 272 Indian and 3 Nepalese nationals were evacuated from Iran on a special flight that arrived in New Delhi from Mashhad at 00:01 hrs on 26th June. 3426 Indian nationals have been brought home from Iran as part of #OperationSindhu,' MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X.

Nepalese nationals who were on board thanked the Indian government for evacuating them from conflict-hit Iran under the ongoing Operation Sindhu.

Earlier on Wednesday, a special flight carrying 296 Indian nationals and four Nepalese citizens had also landed safely in New Delhi. This brought the cumulative number of evacuees to 3,154 before the latest arrival.

Expressing gratitude, Nepalese national Gayatri Thapa said, 'I have been in Iran for the last 10 years. The situation in Iran was very bad. It feels good to be back here. The Indian Government made a lot of arrangements for us and helped us a lot.'

Utsav Thapa, another Nepalese evacuee and a student at Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan under the Indian Embassy in Iran, also thanked India. 'I have been in Iran for the last 9 years... I am happy that I am going back to my country. Thank you, India. The Indian Embassy made arrangements for us.'

Another evacuee, Sagal, who had lived in Iran for eight years, said, 'We got a call from the Indian Embassy after the situation deteriorated. It feels great to be back. I want to thank the Indian Government and the Indian Embassy.'

Indian nationals also shared their experiences of the conflict and praised the evacuation efforts. Syed Zeeshan Haider from Kanpur said, 'I went to Iran to study. Due to the deteriorating conditions there, the Indian government evacuated us... People in Tehran were very scared due to the continuous attacks from Israel.'

Syed Abbas from Gazipur added, 'Our Embassy helped us a lot in the entire evacuation process. We were taken to Mashhad first and the Embassy was there with us on every step. I am thankful to our country for bringing us back here. I am really happy to be back.'

Operation Sindhu was launched in response to the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel over the past few weeks. The evacuation efforts continued until a ceasefire agreement was reached on Tuesday. (ANI)