Issuing a fresh advisory as the United States (US) and Iran continue targeting each other following the collapse of the ceasefire agreement, India on Sunday advised its citizens to postpone traveling to the Islamic Republic and consider existing the country using available flight options.
The Indian Embassy in Iran said the citizens must not travel to the Middle East nation until the security environment improves, advising them to exercise the highest possible level of caution. Further, it said Indian nationals in Iran who have not registered themselves with the embassy should do so immediately.
Besides, they were advised to constantly monitor the embassy’s website and social media handles for constant updates.
“They should carefully monitor the news to maintain full situational awareness, and should avoid locations seeing higher levels of military activity such as those along the southern coast of the country. Instructions issued by local authorities should be complied with carefully,” the embassy said in a statement.ย
The deepening crisis in Middle East
India’s advisory comes as the crisis in the Middle East have deepened again after the ceasefire agreement, signed last month, collapsed. Both the US and Iran have continued trading strikes against each other.ย
The situation is only expected to worsen further after Iranian strikes in Jordan killed two US servicemen and wounded many others, with Washington threatening to intensify its strikes. It is worth mentioning here that the US has already targeted Iran’s coastal surveillance units, and missile and drone sites multiple times over the past few days.
Since the conflict started on February 28, 16 US service members have lost their lives, while more than 430 personnel were injured.ย
On its part, Iran has said the fresh US strikes have killed at least 50 people and left more than 500 injured. The Islamic Republic is now targeting all US bases in the region, including those in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.ย
Israel, which has stayed away from the fresh strikes, has said it has also intercepted an Iranian missile towards the Jordanian city of Aqaba, and warned to retaliate with full force to any of Tehran’s attack.
The situation now remains extremely volatile, and it remains to be seen how it develops from here, as the over four-month long conflict has massively disrupted global supply chains and destabilised the entire region.
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