Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named India in a statement on Monday denouncing it as an “enemy of Islam” and equating the situation of Indian Muslims with that of Palestinian Muslims in the Hamas-occupied Gaza Strip.
The statement, posted on social media site Twitter(X), called on Muslims “not to ignore the suffering endured” by Muslims in India, Gaza and Myanmar, which are currently under military rule. Tried He gained public support by allying himself with prominent Buddhists.
The Indian government responded by calling Khamenei's remarks “misinformed and unacceptable,” citing Iran's atrocious human rights record, which includes widespread abuses against Muslims living under an Islamic theocracy.
The dispute is notable because Iran and India's strengthened diplomatic ties owe much to Iran's inclusion in the BRICS alliance, of which India is a founding member. Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa joined India as original members of the anti-American coalition. Iran became a member in January, along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Saudi Arabia, Iran's biggest geopolitical rival, appears to have accepted an invitation to join BRICS, but its formal member status is unclear at the time of writing.
BRICS membership opens economic and diplomatic doors for the new members. India and Iran recently signed a lucrative port development agreement, and the two countries seemed interested in increasing trade volumes between them even before Khamenei attacked India's Hindu nationalist government. However, Iran's support for radical Islamic terrorism across the Middle East and India's longstanding friendship with the United States (which Tehran calls “the United States” or “the United States”) have raised concerns about the possibility of a trade war.The Great Demon” and deteriorating relations with Israel, which Iran threatens to destroy.
Khamenei's comments against India in a Twitter post came in the larger context of urging Muslims to oppose Israel's self-defense operations in Gaza against the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas. Iranian officials have said the self-defense operations are “Genocide” against Muslims in the territory.
“The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent about our common identity as a Muslim Ummah. [community]”We cannot consider ourselves Muslim if we are ignorant of the suffering endured by Muslims in Myanmar, Gaza, India and other places,” Khamenei's account said in a post.
The remarks appeared to be linked to comments made by Ayatollah Khamenei on Monday at the opening of “Islamic Unity Week,” which marks the birthday of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Website He posted a summary of similar remarks on Monday, but without any mention of India.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs promptly Reply In a statement, the minister said Indian authorities “strongly condemn” any suggestion that they were oppressing Muslims.
“these [statements] “This is erroneous information and unacceptable. Countries commenting on ethnic minorities are advised to check their own records before forming opinions about other countries,” the ministry added.
Under the current Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has seen significant violence between Hindu nationalist groups, who insist that all Indians must embrace Hinduism, and non-Hindus in the country, some of which are conflicts with Muslims, including attacks by Hindu mobs on known Muslim settlements. While Modi has done little to quell opposition to Islam in India, calling Muslims “infiltrators” during his election campaign in April, Hindu mob violence has not been limited to Muslims alone. Christians, who are often from lower castes, have faced widespread violence, including a high-profile and abhorrent incident in July 2023 in the northern state of Manipur, where a Hindu mob publicly raped several Christian women and paraded them naked through the streets.
Muslims in Iran also face significant persecution, especially those who do not conform to the particular Shiite interpretation of Islam imposed by the regime. Muslim women in particular have been beaten to death for “crimes” such as wearing the hijab incorrectly.
India and Iran do not share most of the same geopolitical agenda, making integration in the BRICS context particularly difficult. Avoided It is forced to buy Iranian oil as a result of U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil industry, and as a Hindu nationalist government it has been one of the most vocal in the region in condemning radical Islamic terrorism. This difference in approach became particularly stark after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Celebrated India condemned the attack, calling it “worse than ISIS,” while others denounced the “Al-Aqsa flooding.”
“Hamas has taken over the Gaza Strip. It is worse than ISIS. It was started by Hamas so you cannot say people from both sides were killed,” RP Singh, spokesman for Prime Minister Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said shortly after the October 7 attack.
Prime Minister Modi himself declared that the Indian people “stand firmly alongside Israel in these difficult times.”
These comments were made before Iran joined BRICS, but Iran had already begun receiving invitations to BRICS events and was trying to use its influence to turn the entire alliance against Israel. In November, then-Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reached out directly to Prime Minister Modi in an attempt to convince him to support jihadism against Israel, a move that now appears to have failed.
“Terror incidents, violence and loss of civilian life are of grave concern,” Modi said after the call. “It is important to prevent the situation from escalating, continue providing humanitarian assistance and ensure the early restoration of peace and stability.”
Nevertheless, India announced in May that it had signed an agreement to help develop Iran's Chabahar port, a project that will take at least 10 years to complete and will significantly increase Iran's ability to ship crude oil to the world. After the announcement, the US State Department warned that the deal could violate US sanctions, but as of writing the US had not taken any action against India.
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