‘Escaped bombs, but now I’m stuck at border’: Indian tourist trapped in war-hit Iran; shares ordeal

NEW DELHI: Falguni Dey, a Kolkata-based geography professor and novice mountaineer, thought the worst was over when he left the chaos of Tehran behind. After a harrowing 500-km highway journey via a rustic rattled by missile strikes and gas shortages, Dey reached the Astara border close to the Caspian Sea, hoping to cross into Azerbaijan and board a flight from Baku to India.But what awaited him was one other stretch of uncertainty — marked by pink tape, emotional exhaustion, and a chronic watch for a migration code he by no means knew he wanted.“I may have managed to escape the bombs in Tehran by undertaking this journey, but now I am stuck in Iran’s Astara land border because the Azerbaijan authorities would not accept me into their country without a special migration code issued by that government, and my e-visa won’t work,” Dey stated in a voice message to PTI.The school professor had been stranded in Tehran since June 12, when Israel launched airstrikes on Iran as a part of Operation Rising Lion, prompting the shutdown of airspace and halting his return journey. He had arrived in Iran on June 6 to try a summit of Mount Damavand but needed to abandon his climb because of a snowstorm.By June 17, with no flights obtainable and a rising sense of concern, he determined to flee by highway, finally reaching Astara.But the hope he carried with him was rapidly changed by despair.“Despite my best persuasions, I have been told that it would require at least another fortnight for that code to arrive, and I have no idea how I will survive that long in Iran,” he added, his voice cracking.With no entry to Azerbaijan with out the particular code, Dey’s journey to security — and a pre-booked lodge room in Baku — has been indefinitely delayed. The Mumbai-bound flight from Baku that he had booked is now cancelled, together with the lodge reservation made by his household in Kolkata.“No one told me in Tehran that my e-visa wasn’t sufficient to cross over to Azerbaijan by land and that I also need this special migration pass code, especially in a war situation like this,” Dey stated. “I wasted no time in starting the application process… but the authorities have responded to me over email stating the process would require a minimum of 15 days.”As he watches different foreigners cross over with ease, Dey stated Indians like him are being requested to attend for the migration code, making the state of affairs much more isolating. “There’s a long queue of foreigners over here, and they are having all sorts of visas… But Indians like me have been told that possessing the migration code is mandatory for us to cross.”Though exhausted and going through a rising monetary crunch, Dey stays grateful for the assistance he is obtained — each from his homeland and strangers alongside the way in which. “The vice chancellor of Calcutta University, Santa Dutta, is in constant touch with me. So is mountaineer Debasish Biswas. A senior officer from the Indian embassy’s cultural wing in Tehran, Balaram Shukla, is also helping me out.”Indian embassy officers in Tehran and Baku are reportedly working in coordination to persuade Azerbaijan to permit Dey passage given the emergency state of affairs.His 500-km drive from Tehran to Astara was full of its personal set of challenges. With gas caps in place throughout Iran, the driving force — an area lady from the journey company needed to cease incessantly for gas and primary wants. “They were kind and deeply human. They even brought me fruits and tea, and stayed at the terminal to ensure I was safe.”With no certainty of when the migration code will arrive, Dey is now contemplating a gruelling eight-hour journey to Armenia’s border, in the hope of discovering a quicker route out. But the emotional and bodily toll is carrying him down.“I am physically and emotionally drained… The uncertainty of reaching home is killing me. All my efforts and the money spent by my family and friends to get me to safety seem to have come to nought,” he stated.For now, Falguni Dey’s journey — which started with the hope of scaling a peak — has was a combat for survival, fuelled by the goodwill of strangers and the prayers of family members.

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