Jaishankar on two-day visit to Iran, amid US-UK airstrikes against Tehran-backed Houthi rebels

Jaishankar on two-day visit to Iran, amid US-UK airstrikes against Tehran-backed Houthi rebels

New Delhi: Amid rising tensions in the Middle East between Iran-backed Yemeni militant group Houthis and the West, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Iran, the first minister-level visit to the country from India since the Israel-Hamas war began last year.

Jaishankar’s Tehran visit — on 14-15 January — comes days after the US and the UK launched multiple airstrikes targeting the Houthis, in response to attacks on their commercial ships in the region. This was the first retaliatory action taken by US-led forces against the Houthis since the Iran-backed group started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year.

A day before the US strikes, Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone conversation Thursday, to discuss the security crisis in the Red Sea. They also exchanged views on the Israel-Hamas conflict and the situation in Ukraine.

Jaishankar’s visit also comes weeks after two vessels, MV Chem Pluto in the Arabian Sea and MV Saibaba in the Red Sea, faced attacks. While the US alleged an Iran origin drone struck MV Chem Pluto, Tehran denied these allegations. On the same day, MV Saibaba, carrying a crew of 25 Indians, also came under a drone attack by Houthi rebels in the southern Red Sea.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had indicated that the the assault on India-bound MV Chem Pluto was intentional and analysis of the attacked surface and the debris found on the ship pointed towards the use of a drone with explosives on board — loitering munition, ThPrint had earlier reported.

While on his Iran visit, Jaishankar is scheduled to meet his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to discuss “bilateral, regional and global issues”, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He last visited Iran in July-August 2021, where he called on Iranian President Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi.

“Political cooperation, connectivity initiatives and strong people-to-people ties will constitute important aspects of the agenda”, the MEA stated while announcing the visit.

Push to INSTC, Chabahar Port

Last year, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra had visited Tehran on 26 November to participate in the Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) between the two countries.

During this visit, New Delhi reiterated its commitment to continue sending humanitarian aid to Palestinians and discussed ways to improve bilateral connectivity, including projects like the Chabahar port. The countries also welcomed collaboration within the frameworks of groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS.

Located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran’s southern coast, India has been developing the Chabahar port since 2016. Yet, in 2019, progress on the project began to slow down owingg to US sanctions on Tehran. Since 2020, the project has seen multiple delays and the Israel-Hamas war can have further detrimental impact on the project. The port is also seen as a key hub for the North-South Trade Corridor.

The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode transport project for moving goods through India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

Jaishankar’s visit to Russia last month also focused on expediting various branches of INSTC. Days after the visit, Moscow and Tehran agreed on the transit of 12 million tonnes of Russian goods via Iran along the INSTC.

The external affairs minister’s Tehran visit may also explore the INSTC, Chabahar Port, the Azerbaijan-Armenian conflict and India’s support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Iran remains crucial to India’s connectivity to Central Asia, Russia and Afghanistan.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)