Iran spokesman skips BRICS meeting as Iran seeks bilateral air route for ‘humanitarian aid’ from India
Chairman of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, will not attend the BRICS Parliamentary Forum meeting to be held in New Delhi on October 26-27, the Iranian embassy announced on Saturday (Oct 24, 2026). This comes in the wake of reports that India has refused to allow Iran Air to transport a shipment of medicines to Tehran.
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India insists that Iran is free to receive such medical shipments through a third country such as Armenia, as Indian airports and air operators would otherwise face US sanctions.
However, Iranian officials claimed that “humanitarian aid” was not subject to any international sanctions and that India should operate a bilateral air route “on a priority basis” for humanitarian support to another BRICS member country. They also claimed that some temperature-sensitive medicines became unusable after being transported through third countries.
A parliamentary delegation will attend
“The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi wishes to inform that due to certain unforeseen circumstances, HE Dr. Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, Chairman of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran, will not be able to attend the meeting of Speakers of the Parliaments of the BRICS Member Countries in New Delhi,” added the embassy, which will participate in its statement at the event I.
“As one of the BRICS members, Iran reaffirms its commitment to actively and effectively participate at the highest levels in the summits and meetings of this grouping,” the Iranian embassy said in a statement on Saturday (October 24). When Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited India to attend the BRICS summit last month, he declared that Iran would not be “bullied” by the United States.
The issue initially came to light on October 19, when Iran Air CEO Taher Abdolhay revealed at a press conference in Tehran that the airline had not received permission to transport drugs from India and Singapore.
Fear of US sanctions
However, official sources in Delhi claimed that the cancellation of Mr. Ghalibaf’s visit was not related to the hurdles faced in the supply of Indian medicines to Iran. Officials said that Indian pharmaceutical companies send drugs to Iran through third countries such as Oman and Armenia.
“Even during the height of the conflict, drugs from the Indian market were transported to Armenia and from there trucked to Iran,” said the source, who indicated that most major Iranian airlines face sanctions from the US Treasury and that Indian airport operators could face problems if they are found to be hosting sanctioned Iranian airlines.
The Hindu was told that the best option for Iran is to fly Indian medicines and pharmaceutical goods to countries like Armenia from where they can be transported across the Iranian border. “It is up to Iran to decide how it wants to get the supplies. On our side, we are fully prepared to supply,” the official said.
“Medicines are part of humanitarian aid”
Responding to questions from The Hindu, an Iranian official source said Iran would like to remind India that “humanitarian aid is not subject to any international sanctions and medicine is a humanitarian necessity for a country like Iran”.
An Iranian official admitted that Tehran has the ability to transport Indian medical shipments to Iraq, Turkey, Armenia and Oman. But there are challenges in shipping perishable items like medicine through a combination of long-haul flights, road transit through conflict zones and multiple heavy loads, he said.
“The Delhi-Tehran direct flight is one of the oldest air routes in our region and medicines can reach Tehran in three hours from India. So why should we take 24 to 48 hours to deliver medicines from India when the medicines can get damaged during such long flights and journeys,” said an Iranian official on condition of anonymity.
He noted that in the recent past, when Iran received Indian medicines by land through Armenia, some items that had to be stored in temperature-controlled containers were found to have perished during the long transit and numerous heavy cargo shipments.
“Our priority is for India to recognize that medicines are part of humanitarian aid. We are BRICS members as well as long-standing civilizational partners, so the bilateral air route should remain open,” the official said, stressing that there is considerable resistance in India from some big corporate players who do not want to do business with Iran due to concerns about US and EU sanctions.
Published – 24 Oct 2026 18:11 IST