Iran on Sunday responded to the shooting incident involving India-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating regional tensions, with its top envoy in India highlighting strong bilateral ties and calling restraint and peace.
“The relationship between Iran and India is very strong and I don’t know anything about this event which you mentioned and we hope that it will be okay and it will be solved,” said representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in India Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi.
He further called for peace adding, “We don’t want this war. We want peace, and we hope that the other side will also follow peace so that we can have a peaceful area.”
“The Strait of Hormuz was open, and due to the imposed war against Iran, it was closed, because of the security issues, and we hope that very soon it will be open…Yes, it was open for some time, but as there are some problems and crises around Iran, they wanted to be sure that the problems would be solved and it would be open very soon,” he said.
Iranian representative’s statement comes after India lodged a strong protest after two India-flagged ships, Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav, were fired upon while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, forcing them to turn back mid-journey. The vessels, carrying around 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude, were reported safe, but the incident heightened tensions between the two countries.
The Ministry of External Affairs summoned Iranian envoy Mohammad Fathali and pressed Tehran to ensure the safe passage of India-bound ships. Meanwhile, reports said several vessels, including Greek tankers, were forced to turn back following gunfire as Iran announced the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz less than 24 hours after announcing it to be open, citing a US blockade as the reason.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed from the evening, according to CNN. In its statement, the IRGC said that although several vessels had transited the strait on Friday, the United States had failed to lift its naval blockade on Iranian ships and ports, calling it a violation of the ceasefire conditions.
While speaking in Lucknow over Iran-US peace talks held in Islamabad, Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi said negotiations had collapsed due to disagreements over the framework.
