NEW DELHI A team of Indian health workers and scientists will begin the process of screening nationals stuck in the Iranian holy city of Qom on Thursday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has announced. The team will screen and prepare them eventually for evacuation to India.

“Our medical team for screening arrives in Iran today. Hope to establish first clinic at Qom by this evening. Screening process will start immediately thereafter. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities,” said Dr. Jaishankar about the Indian nationals, a large number of whom are from Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

The pilgrims have been demanding evacuation by special flights for several days as commercial flights have been cancelled between the two countries. The medical team is expected to collect samples of nearly 1,500 Indians in the clinic as announced by the External Affairs Minister. On Thursday, the Embassy of Iran reminded that many Iranians are also stuck in India because of India’s decision to stop flights from Iran in view of the serious outbreak of the coronavirus crisis there.

“Many Iranian and Indian nationals are unexpectedly stranded and affected by suspended flights. It’s 7 days that Iran has reflected its readiness to provide maximum possible help to those stranded in both countries. Coronavirus outbreak needs collective efforts to tackle globally,” said the embassy in a social media message.

In the meanwhile, Iran’s Industry Minister Reza Rahmani too has tested positive for the coronavirus. He joins a long list of top-level Iranians who have contracted the virus and are undergoing treatment in hospitals.

Apart from Indian nationals who are visiting Iran, there is a large Indian community in the country that has also expressed desire to be airlifted to New Delhi. A representation from the local Indians based in Tehran met the officials of the Indian embassy in Tehran earlier this week expressing desire to be evacuated by official flights from India.