The 18th BRICS summit set to be held in New Delhi is drawing global attention, with world leaders converging on the prestigious event hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 12 and 13. Russian President Vladimir Putin has already arrived in Delhi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to arrive shortly as well. However, more than any other leader, the world is closely watching the arrival of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
This will be Pezeshkian’s first visit to India, and the route of his flight along with the security threats surrounding it have now become a subject of intense discussion. Iran currently finds itself in a state of war with the United States and Israel, with attacks and retaliatory actions between the two sides continuing at a severe level since early September. Amid such tense conditions, there has been widespread speculation that travelling aboard the president’s aircraft is fraught with difficulty and that security risks loom large.
Pezeshkian’s flight is scheduled to depart from Tehran, pass through Pakistani airspace, and arrive at the Palam Air Force Station in Delhi, with the aircraft expected to land in Delhi around 2 PM today. Security experts, however, consider the aircraft’s exit from Iranian airspace itself to be dangerous, given that air defence systems remain active around Tehran amid the ongoing war between the US and Iran, and there are indications that the US could target the aircraft the moment it enters Iranian skies.
After crossing Iran’s border, the aircraft will enter Pakistani airspace. Political relations between Iran and Pakistan currently remain on good terms, and Pakistani fighter jets have previously provided escort protection to Pezeshkian’s aircraft. While Pakistan generally keeps its airspace closed to Indian aircraft, such restrictions do not apply to VVIP flights carrying heads of other states, meaning there is unlikely to be any major difficulty in routing the flight through Pakistan.
The reason such doubts have arisen over the Iranian president’s flight security lies in a series of past threats he has faced. Pezeshkian was slightly injured in an Israeli strike in June 2025. Similarly, in April this year, threats emerged that the aircraft carrying a returning Iranian delegation would be blown up following US-Iran talks, forcing him to take an alternative route at the time.
Furthermore, on September 1, Pezeshkian’s aircraft “IRAN02,” returning to Tehran from Kyrgyzstan after concluding the SCO summit, suddenly changed course and landed in the northern Iranian city of Rasht. The following day, air defence systems in Tehran became active and explosions occurred, creating a sensation. These developments have reinforced suspicions that surveillance by hostile nations on the Iranian president’s aircraft could materialize at any moment. Once the Iranian president’s aircraft enters Indian airspace, full security responsibility will be taken over by the Indian Air Force and central intelligence agencies, with the necessary air traffic clearance for the VVIP flight and protective arrangements along the route already completed.