New Delhi [India], March 20 (ANI): More Indian nationals stranded in Iran have returned home through land routes via neighbouring countries, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday, adding that the evacuation process is continuing with the assistance of Indian missions.

Addressing an inter-ministerial briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the number of Indians exiting Iran through Armenia and Azerbaijan has increased since the previous update.

'As I told before, through Iran, many Indian citizens who are in Iran are returning to the country through Armenia and Azerbaijan. In that, there has been an increase in the number I told yesterday. Now, 913 Indian citizens have crossed the border in Armenia and Azerbaijan from Iran with the help of the embassy, and many people have already returned among them,' Jaiswal said.

He added that all Indian pilgrims who had been stranded in Iran have now safely returned to India.

'As I had told you before, 284 pilgrims were stuck there; all those 284 pilgrims have now returned to India,' he said.

Providing an update on assistance requests, Jaiswal said the MEA's control room received a limited number of communications from people seeking information and support.

'As far as the MEA control room is concerned, yesterday, a total of 10 telephone calls and six emails were received in this control room. All these were mostly about the Indian citizens stuck on merchant ships, about which telephone calls were there,' he added.

During the Inter-Ministerial Briefing, Additional Secretary (Gulf) in the MEA, Aseem R Mahajan, said that Indian missions in multiple countries are working closely with authorities to locate an Indian national reported missing in the West Asia conflict.

'Six Indian nationals have unfortunately lost their lives, and one is missing in various incidents. Our missions in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq and UAE are in regular touch with the concerned authorities regarding the missing Indian national and for the early repatriation of mortal remains of the deceased Indian nationals to India,' Mahajan said.

The MEA official said that the travel situation from the Gulf region is gradually improving, with a significant number of passengers already returning to India.

'Situation continues to improve with additional flights operating from the region. Since February 28, around 300,000 passengers have returned from the region to India,' the MEA official said. (ANI)