New Delhi: Indian Air Force’s (IAF) transport aircraft C-17 Globemaster carrying 58 Indian nationals from Tehran in Iran landed at Hindan air base in Ghaziabad on Tuesday morning.
“C-17 aircraft landed back at Hindan now on it's return from Iran,” IAF spokesperson Gp Capt Anupam Banerjee said.
Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar also tweeted before landing of IAF’s aircraft, “First batch of 58 Indian pilgrims being brought back from #Iran. IAF C-17 taken off from Tehran and expected to land soon in Hindon.”
He also appreciated the effort put in by Indian Embassy in Iran.
“Thanks to the efforts of our Embassy @India_in_Iran and Indian medical team there, operating under challenging conditions. Thank you @IAF_MCC. Appreciate cooperation of Iranian authorities,” he said in his Twitter thread.
“We are working on the return of other Indians stranded there,” the minister added.
The outbreak of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in Iran is one of the deadliest outside China, the virus originated late last year.
“At least 194 of our compatriots who fell sick with the Covid-19 illness have passed away,” Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
Mr Jahanpour added that 743 new infections were also confirmed within the past 24 hours, bringing the number of cases to 6,566 spread across all of Iran's 31 provinces.
With 1,805 infections, the capital Tehran remains part of the province with the most cases, the spokesman added.
