Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has welcomed the peace agreement struck between the United States and Iran, saying India, as a nation committed to peace, ought to back the move given the benefits it promises both at home and abroad. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Tharoor pointed to the wider economic toll conflict tends to take, drawing on past experience to make his case.
“The point is we have had a lot of experience in our country. In Asia, even in South Korea, factories were closing down. So, in this situation, when a solution comes, peace comes; it’s good for everyone, it’s good for the world,” he said.
He went on to flag the direct gains India stands to make, particularly on the trade front. “We hope that after this, our oil and gas, our fertiliser, our aluminium supplies that used to come from there, many supplies that were stuck there, will all be able to come. So, after all this comes, I think the entire country and the world will benefit from it,” he added.
Tharoor also underlined where India ought to stand on the matter. “In my opinion, we are a peace-loving country and should definitely support it,” he said.
The comments follow a virtual signing of a 14-point memorandum of understanding by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, aimed at halting hostilities, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and setting in motion a 60-day window for talks on a lasting settlement covering sanctions and Iran’s nuclear programme.
CNN, quoting a White House official, reported that Trump put pen to paper on Wednesday during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, with Pezeshkian also signing the document, which took effect at once. The text was released under the title “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
A senior US official described the pact as a means of reopening the Strait of Hormuz without delay, dealing with Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, and setting up a phased sanctions-relief framework tied to Tehran’s conduct. “This is fundamentally an agreement that allows us to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately, commit the Iranians to destroying the nuclear dust, and then gives us a dial where if the Iranians dial up their good behaviour, we respond by dialling up the kind of economic and sanctions relief that can make them a more prosperous country,” the official told CNN.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed to Press TV that both sides had finalised and signed the text, adding that safe passage through the waters would be guaranteed while Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz remained intact.
Among the 14 points laid out in the agreement are an immediate and lasting halt to military operations, including in Lebanon, along with a commitment to wrap up talks on a final deal within 60 days, with scope to extend that timeline by mutual agreement.
