India's External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, is set to visit Iran amid rising tensions in the Middle East. Jaishankar's visit to Tehran assumes significance as it comes amidst US and UK forces attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen in retaliation for their attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. The visit also followed after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken dialled Jaishankar to discuss the Iran-backed Houthi crisis. Hindustan Times' Executive Editor Shishir Gupta decodes the high-stakes visit of an Indian foreign minister to Iran in the midst of the global crisis. Watch!
The visit of S Jaishankar is very critical as far as the current crisis of the middle-east is concerned. If you look at the build up of the entire visit, first of all, the possibility is that the external affairs minister is visiting Iran for a brief visit on coming Sunday. He undertook this visit after he spoke to the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last night. Yesterday night, the US and UK forces attacked the Houthi rebel positions in South Yemen. So it is a critical mission and it comes at a time when actually the entire middle-east is flaring up. There is this war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. There are also these Houthi missile and drone attacks on ships. Yesterday, the Iranians commandeered a tanker off the Gulf of Oman. The situation is flared up, the visit is a key visit. The position that India takes matters.
Iran is a key player behind Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis. Iran is the Shia shoulder of Islam. Iran has been backing all these groups. The Indian context is that India is very clear that while it is supportive of the Palestinian cause, it doesn't anyway justify the October 7 massacre. India wants a two-state solution, and it wants the war not to flare up.
{{/usCountry}}Iran is a key player behind Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis. Iran is the Shia shoulder of Islam. Iran has been backing all these groups. The Indian context is that India is very clear that while it is supportive of the Palestinian cause, it doesn't anyway justify the October 7 massacre. India wants a two-state solution, and it wants the war not to flare up.
{{/usCountry}}The Houthi militia is a Shia militia, which is backed by Iran. It has been using Kamikaze drones, missiles and all sorts of weapons against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. On December 23rd, it was Iranian Shadab ammunition that targeted a tanker called MV Camp Plato off the coast of Dwarka.
So the Indian concerns are that the war be stopped and the Houthi attacks must stop.
The attack is of concern to India because the MV Camp Plato attack took place 210 miles off the coast of Dwarka and the missile was a Kamikaze drone. We are not clear whether it was Iran or Houthis. This particular drone was a long range drone. It struck a ship close to the Indian coast. It affects the maritime security of India.
India is very focused when it comes to the turmoil in the middle-east. That is why it has deployed no less than 10 warships in the region to ensure that the sea lanes of communications are protected.