 "Why Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s ‘Muslims in India’ remark has angered New Delhi")
India is not happy with Iran, especially with its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Monday (September 16), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) condemned the Iranian leader’s remarks made on minorities in India, terming them as “misinformed”.
This comes as the two countries — India and Iran — share old ties and remain partners. Tehran has been one of India’s major suppliers of crude but this has been hit by Western sanctions.
But what exactly did Ayatollah Ali Khamenei say? How did New Delhi react? And could this affect the India-Iran relations? We bring you the bigger picture.
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks
On September 16, to mark the occasion of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, Prophet Muhammed’s birth anniversary, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote on X, “The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah. We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in Myanmar, Gaza, India, or any other place.”
The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah. We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in #Myanmar, #Gaza, #India, or any other place.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) September 16, 2024
Speaking of Iran, he wrote, “Ill-wishers have been fuelling religious differences in the Islamic world for a long time now, especially in Iran.”
New Delhi responds
However, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s latest remarks haven’t sat well with New Delhi.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal released a sharp statement, criticising Iran. It said, “We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable. Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others.”
Statement on Unacceptable Comments made by the Supreme Leader of Iran:https://t.co/Db94FGChaF pic.twitter.com/MpOFxtfuRO
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) September 16, 2024
Coincidentally, the remarks and the subsequent rebuke came on the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death. For those who can’t recollect, Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian woman, who died unexpectedly while in custody of Iran’s Gasht-e Ershad for “improper” clothing. Her death had sparked outrage in the country, with women protesting on the streets — many of them even cutting their hair in public. The protests also led Iranian authorities to arrest several hundreds of women and activists.
And on the second death anniversary of Amini, several Iranian women took a stroll on the streets of Tehran with their hair wide open, even after sunset, in defiance. Additionally, several women in the Evin prison in Tehran also undertook a hunger strike in memory of Amini.
Ayatollah’s past comments on India
Notably, this isn’t the first time that Iran’s Supreme Leader has commented on Muslims in India and their condition in the country. When the Narendra Modi government abrogated Article 370, revoking special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the Ayatollah had expressed concern.
He had then posted on X, “We have good relations with India, but we expect the Indian government to adopt a just policy towards the noble people of Kashmir and prevent the oppression & bullying of Muslims in this region.”
The following year, 2020, Ayatollah Khamenei urged Indian authorities to “confront extremist Hindus” and “stop the massacre of Muslims” in the backdrop of the New Delhi riots. He had posted on X, using the hashtag #IndianMuslimsInDanger, writing, “The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India.”
Interestingly, Iran’s Supreme Leader’s comments came shortly after the country’s then Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had condemned the riots, which had earned a rebuke from India.
And prior to all of this, in 2017, in a speech Khamenei on Eid compared Kashmir to Bahrain and Yemen, asking the Muslim world to support people of these regions. “The Muslim world should openly support the people of Yemen, Bahrain, and Kashmir and repudiate oppressors and tyrants who attacked [them],” he had said.
India-Iran ties
It is highly unlikely that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks will affect the larger India-Iran ties that the two countries share for long. As recently as May, the two countries signed a long-term contract for the operation of the Shahid Beheshti Port terminal at Chabahar in Iran. This contract marks the first time India will take over the management of an overseas port.
India and Iran have relations dating back millennia. Contemporary relations are marked by high-level exchanges, commercial cooperation, connectivity paradigm and cultural and people-to-people ties.
Additionally, trade and connectivity define New Delhi’s ties with Tehran. In 2022-23, India’s bilateral trade with Iran reached $2.33 billion. While New Delhi’s trade with Tehran had declined in recent years, it saw a 21.77 per cent uptick in 2022-23.
With inputs from agencies
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