Iran’s former Supreme Leader, late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei always had a soft corner for India and was keen on having deeper ties between New Delhi and Tehran, said the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in India, Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi. He also said that Khamenei’s son and the incumbent Supreme Leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, holds Indians in high regard and lauds them as loyal and honest.
“The friendship between Iran and India is rooted in more than five thousand years. Iranians connected to Indians through culture, through civilisation, through philosophy and spirituality. Late our Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Uzma Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the first book he wrote was about India, and it’s in two volumes. This means he loved India. And several times he was insisting on the good collaboration, cooperation between Iran and India,” said Ilahi.
Praise for Indians and historic ties
“Even his son also, because whenever I was going back to Iran, I was meeting him, and he was insisting on good collaboration with India and was praising the Indians. He was saying: ‘They are very loyal, they are very honest, they are very kind, they are very smart, they are very good people,’” he told YEARS.
Also Read: Strait of Hormuz not closed, some ships still passing: Khamenei’s representative
Elaborating further, Ilahi said that Iran never wanted any irritants in its ties with India, asserting that there was conflict between the two countries, and the ties dating back 5000 years would continue.
Iran rejects Trump’s negotiations claim
Ilahi rubbished US President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran was seeking negotiations as the ongoing war escalates in West Asia, stating that the Islamic Republic was prepared to fight for five years if required.
“No. Never ever. Iran never wants to negotiate with them at the moment because they started this war. And we have experience with them. Two times we were negotiating with them, and they attacked us. They targeted us,” he said.
Also Read: Two more ships, with 92,700 MT of LPG, headed for India; 22 vessels waiting: MEA
“I don’t know any deadline for this war. But what I know is that Iran is ready to continue this war to the end, even for five years. And we have experience in the war. We had eight years of experience of the war between Iran and Iraq at that time. And we are ready. And if you go to the streets of Iran, you will see all the people are there, and they are chanting for retaliation. And they say we are ready to give our blood, but we are not ready to give our land,” added Ilahi.
Conflict escalates in West Asia
His remarks come at a time when the security situation in West Asia and the Gulf continues to evolve after the United States and Israel carried out strikes that led to the death of Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The latest phase of tensions in West Asia began on February 28 and has since seen direct confrontations between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran on the other.
Also Read: Iran FM says US first ‘bullied’ India over Russian oil, now ‘begs’ to buy it
Amid the escalating situation, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres voiced serious concern, warning that the developments pose a significant risk to global peace and security.
Earlier in a post on X, Guterres said the ongoing conflict has inflicted heavy suffering on civilians and urged all parties to move towards de-escalation and dialogue.
Calling for an immediate halt to hostilities, the UN chief stressed that diplomacy remains the only viable path forward.
Comments are closed.