‘Every night is a nightmare ’: Kashmir parents plead as Iran war traps their children again

Srinagar: “What if I never hear his voice again?," sobbed Shabana Begum, clutching her phone as blasts lit up the evening sky hundreds of kilometres away in Iran.

For families in Kashmir, whose children are studying in Iran, the fear that gripped them in June 2025 has returned. And with it comes the dread of losing children stranded amid a new and far more ferocious outbreak of war.

Shabana’s son, a second-year medical student in Tehran, was among hundreds of Kashmiris pursuing professional courses in Iran when the Israel-Iran conflict first spiralled into open hostilities last year.

India’s “Operation Sindhu” evacuated more than 4,400 Indian nationals, including hundreds of Kashmiri students, from war-hit cities in June 2025 — a mission families called a lifeline.

But after months of uncertainty, many students returned to Iran — to continue studies -- following official advisories and what seemed like a lull in hostilities.

In late February 2026, just days before the latest war erupted, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urged students to heed the Government of India’s advisory and return home while commercial flights were still operational. 

For parents, however, the advice came with a bitter cost.

“We borrowed money… he came back in June and then returned to complete exams,” said Farooq Ahmed of Pulwama, his voice breaking. “Now he calls me every hour, telling me there are explosions near his hostel. How many times can we send our children back and forth? This is not a life, it is terror.”

The current conflict has again upended daily life for Kashmiri students in Iran. The Indian Embassy in Tehran has issued repeated advisories urging nationals to leave by available means, including commercial flights, even as hundreds of students remain in the country in high-risk areas, especially in and around Tehran. 

Many students have been relocated by the Embassy to relatively safer cities, but parents say internal moves offer little solace. “He was shifted from Tehran to Qom, but we hear explosions there too,” said Zainab Mir, whose daughter is studying pharmacy. “Every blast sends chills through us.”

Student bodies such as the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging a renewed evacuation plan before the situation worsens. 

With airspace volatility and commercial travel disrupted, families are now caught between escalating fear and dwindling options — reliving last year’s trauma while praying for a much-needed rescue that seems agonisingly out of reach.