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Iran, Khamenei get a surprise Indian backer in war against US & Israel — Baba Ramdev

Ramdev says in viral clip: "[Trump and Netanyahu] are war criminals. I consider them criminals against humanity; criminals against nature and environment.”

Updated on: Mar 31, 2026, 21:11:26 IST
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Yoga guru Ramdev has displayed a stern stance against the US and Israel in their war on Iran, in a video now going viral. He was asked on a news YV show if India should stand with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu or on the side of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who was killed on the first day of the war on February 28.

Yoga guru Ramdev spoke in favour of Iran, and called Trump and Netanyahu war criminals, on a TV show last week. (PTI File Photo)
Yoga guru Ramdev spoke in favour of Iran, and called Trump and Netanyahu war criminals, on a TV show last week. (PTI File Photo)

“You can kill a person, but you cannot kill his ideas, his philosophy, his mindset, his spirit, or his valour and heroism,” replied Ramdev, known to be a prominent Hindu spiritual leader, a ‘baba’, and ayurveda proponent in India.

His stance for Iran comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi — whom Ramdev has backed over the years — has been facing criticism for allegedly standing with Israel, particularly because he visited the country two days before the war began. Officially, India has professed “strategic autonomy”.

Ramdev said on the TV show last week, speaking in Hindi, “I don't know a great deal about Iran, but I do know this much: These (Iranians) are people from the actual lineage of Prophet Muhammad — known as Shia (sect of Muslims) — and no one can make them bow down; no one can wipe them out; and no one can defeat them.”

He said that at of Iran's population of roughly 90 million, “more than 10 million people embrace Khamenei's ideology with their entire being”.

“So, how could you possibly eradicate that?” Ramdev argued.

When the anchor asked if he had anything to say about Netanyahu, he said US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu “are both cut from the same cloth; as the saying goes, chor-chor mausere bhai (‘thieves are cousins' or 'thick as thieves’).”

He added “I am not calling anyone a thief; I am simply citing a proverb — it implies that they are both of the same ilk, and I consider them both to be war criminals. I consider them criminals against humanity; I consider them criminals against nature and the environment.”

Ramdev said the US and Israel have “erected a Himalaya-sized mountain of political mistrust”.

“For the next 50-100 years, Israel and America will have to bear the consequences. In this conflict, neither can America and Israel emerge victorious, nor can Iran be defeated,” he said in the viral clip from an ABP News show.

  • Aarish Chhabra
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Aarish Chhabra

    Aarish Chhabra is an Associate Editor with the Hindustan Times online team, writing news reports and explanatory articles, besides overseeing coverage for the website. His career spans nearly two decades across India's most respected newsrooms in print, digital, and broadcast. He has reported, written, and edited across formats — from breaking news and live election coverage, to analytical long-reads and cultural commentary — building a body of work that reflects both editorial rigour and a deep curiosity about the society he writes for. Aarish studied English literature, sociology and history, besides journalism, at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and started his career in that city, eventually moving to Delhi. He is also the author of ‘The Big Small Town: How Life Looks from Chandigarh’, a collection of critical essays originally serialised as a weekly column in the Hindustan Times, examining the culture and politics of a city that is far more than its famous architecture — and, in doing so, holding up a mirror to modern India. In stints at the BBC, The Indian Express, NDTV, and Jagran New Media, he worked across formats and languages; mainly English, also Hindi and Punjabi. He was part of the crack team for the BBC Explainer project replicated across the world by the broadcaster. At Jagran, he developed editorial guides and trained journalists on integrity and content quality. He has also worked at the intersection of journalism and education. At the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, he developed a website that simplified academic research in management. At Bennett University's Times School of Media in Noida, he taught students the craft of digital journalism: from newsgathering and writing, to social media strategy and video storytelling. Having moved from a small town to a bigger town to a mega city for education and work, his intellectual passions lie at the intersection of society, politics, and popular culture — a perspective that informs both his writing and his view of the world. When not working, he is constantly reading long-form journalism or watching brainrot content, sometimes both at the same time.Read More

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