Days After Her "Papa, Save Me" SOS, Indian Student In Iran Returns Home

"Papa, save me," an Indian student who was stuck in conflict-hit Iran wrote to her father on June 13. Today, she met her father after landing in Delhi in an evacuation flight arranged by India under 'Operation Sindhu'.

Zoya Rizvi, from Noida, was studying medicine in Iran. On June 13, she messaged her father that a military base that was close to her place in Iran was struck by Israel. "They have attacked a military base. If I have ever said anything wrong to you, please forgive me... Papa, save me," read her message. She ended her message on an ominous note, "I am going to sleep now. You will know tomorrow if I am alive or not."

"I got really scared," Ms Rizvi said today while standing next to her visibly emotional father at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

She told NDTV that she saw interceptions and bombings. "There was an attack close to the place I was staying," she said.

Ms Rizvi also thanked the governments of India and Iran for the evacuation of the students.

"The Indian embassy helped a lot, they relocated us, first to Qom, then Mashhad... Then the airspace was opened, so we came here from Mashhad, she said.

Another student, from Jammu and Kashmir, said she saw drone attacks while she was in Iran. Syeda Farwa, however, insisted that she wanted to go back when the situation is better.

Iran lifted its airspace restrictions on Friday for India's 'Operation Sindhu' to evacuate its nationals from Iran. The country opened its airspace for three flights to evacuate Indians.

More than 800 Indian nationals have so far returned home from Iran under Operation Sindhu, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday.

Thousands of Indian students, most of them from Jammu and Kashmir, are stranded in Iran.

Mohammad Javad Hosseini, the deputy chief of mission at the Iranian embassy, said more evacuation flights could be operated in the coming days to bring back Indians if required. He said about 10,000 Indians are living in Iran, and those wishing to return home are being evacuated.

The Israeli military said today that it struck Iran's nuclear research facility in Isfahan, for the second time in the latest round of conflict between the longtime enemies. Isfahan was hit in the first 24 hours of the crisis as part of Israel's goal to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. The Israeli military is also preparing for a "prolonged campaign" to destroy its targets, including nuclear sites, enrichment facilities and missile infrastructure.

The latest round of conflict started on June 13 when Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and scientists in Iran.