External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had three phone conversations with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi during the ongoing conflict between Israel, the US and Iran, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
The ministry said that in the third conversation between the two leaders on Tuesday, the two leaders discussed issues related to shipping safety and India’s energy security.
“The External Affairs Minister and the Foreign Minister of Iran have held three talks in the past few days. The latter discussed issues related to India’s shipping security and energy security. Other than that, it would be premature for me to say anything,” PTI quoted Jaiswal as saying.
The PTI news agency reported that the movement of Indian oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz has been stabilized after the talks.
To date, as many as 19 ships have been hit by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, killing around seven people in the attack, according to a Hindustan Times report. While two Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) tankers Pushpak and Piramal managed to cross the Strait of Hormuz unescorted between last night and Thursday morning, three other tankers were hit by Iranian projectiles and sustained damage.
Conflict between Israel, USA and Iran
Iran launched a wave of retaliatory attacks after Israel and the US jointly attacked the Islamic Republic on Saturday, February 28. Blasts were reported across Gulf cities including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other key West Asian hubs – which are also home to US military bases.
The conflict between Israel, the US and Iran – now in its second week – has also caused massive disruption to flight operations to and from the Gulf countries, stranding thousands of passengers worldwide.
‘9000 Indian citizens in Iran…’
On Thursday, Jaiswal also said India was working to ensure the safety of its 9,000 nationals in Iran, with several students and others returning home through embassy assistance.
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“We had about 9,000 Indian nationals who were there or are there in Iran. Those 9,000 Indian nationals are students. They also include sailors, some traders, some professionals and some pilgrims. Out of those 9,000 you would have seen that we issued an advisory some time ago. Our mission issued an advisory that was issued on January 4th after these alerts no, on February 23rd several of Indian nationals, mostly students, a lot of students, have left the country and reached home,” an MEA spokesperson said.
He also said that the Indian Embassy in Tehran is facilitating the safe movement of citizens who want to leave the country. This includes assistance in reaching Armenia and Azerbaijan through the land border where they can access flights to return to India.
(with input from agencies)
