India on Wednesday issued a fresh travel advisory urging its citizens to avoid travelling to Iran amid escalating anti-government protests. The country’s embassy in Tehran also asked Indian citizens in Iran to leave at the earliest.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said Indian nationals were “once again strongly advised” to avoid travel to the West Asian country until further notice.
Advisory for Indian nationals regarding travel to Iran
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— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) January 14, 2026 The Indian Embassy in Tehran also advised Indian nationals in Iran, including students, pilgrims, businesspersons and tourists, to leave the country by available means of transport, including commercial flights.
“It is reiterated that all Indian citizens and PIOs [persons of Indian origin] should exercise due caution, avoid areas of protests or demonstrations, stay in contact with the Indian Embassy in Iran and monitor local media for any developments,” the embassy stated
There are approximately 10,000 Indians in Iran, including a large number of students, the Hindustan Times reported. The country is also visited each year by thousands of Shia pilgrims from several parts of India.
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— India in Iran (@India_in_Iran) January 14, 2026 The advisory came amid widespread unrest in Iran over the past two weeks. Around 2,000 persons, including security personnel, have been killed during the protests, an Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday.
The protests, which began on December 28, were initially focused on discontent about rising inflation. However, they later expanded in scope as protesters in more than 100 cities demanded an end to clerical rule.
The authorities in Iran have accused the United States and Israel of inciting the unrest.
On January 8, the government snapped internet access and telephone lines, largely cutting off the country from the outside world.
The restrictions were eased on Tuesday, AP reported. However, text messaging services were still down and internet users were only able to connect to government-approved websites locally.
One of the protesters who was arrested on January 8 has been sentenced to death.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he was “horrified” by the violence in Iran.
“The killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop, and the labelling of protesters as ‘terrorists’ to justify violence against them is unacceptable,” Turk stated.
Turk also described reports about the possibility of a death sentence to protesters as “extremely worrying”.
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