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India on Friday advised its citizens to leave Iran amid widening anti-government protests, saying commercial flights were still operating and should be used by those seeking to return home.

The Ministry of External Affairs said it had issued advisories urging Indians to avoid travel to Iran and asked those already in the country to depart using available commercial options.

“There are commercial flights operating out of Iran and Indians should make use of those,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi, adding that the government was closely monitoring the situation.

About 9,000 Indians are currently in Iran, including students, businesspeople, professionals, pilgrims and seafarers, the ministry said. New Delhi did not announce any evacuation plans but said it would take steps to ensure the welfare of Indian citizens if required.

Protests erupted in Iran on December 28 over rising inflation and economic hardship and later spread to more than 100 towns and cities, with demonstrators calling for an end to clerical rule.

Iranian authorities temporarily shut down internet and telephone services earlier this month, largely cutting the country off from the outside world. While some restrictions have since been eased, access remains limited, according to media reports. Tehran has accused the United States and Israel of stoking the unrest.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said on Friday that at least 3,090 people had been killed during the protests, while Iranian state media reported around 3,000 arrests. The rights group put the number of people detained at more than 18,400.

US President Donald Trump said this week he had been told that the killing of protesters had stopped and that there were no plans for executions. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately told Fox News there was “no plan” to hang protesters.

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