Jaishankar, Iranian Counterpart Araghchi Meet On Sidelines Of UNGA

External affairs minister S Jaishankar and Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi met briefly on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Jaishankar shared a photo of him and the Iranian foreign minister from the UNGA in New York and said both met before a meeting of the BRICS nations.

“With FM @araghchi of Iran ahead of the BRICS meeting,” Jaishankar said in the post.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of the conflicts in West Asia, where Israel is engaged in conflicts with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as with Yemen’s Houthis.

The meeting of both ministers also comes in the backdrop of the comments made by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei regarding the Muslim community in India.

Earlier this month, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei spoke about the “suffering” of Muslims in Gaza and Myanmar in a message advocating global Muslim unity. On the occasion of Prophet Mohammed’s birth anniversary, he also referenced India, though he did not elaborate on why he mentioned the country’s Muslim minority in his statement posted on X.

The external affairs ministry strongly condemned comments made by him and urged countries to “look at their own record” before commenting on others.

In a strongly worded statement, the MEA rejected his remarks about the “suffering” of Muslims in India, describing them as lacking an understanding of the situation in the country. “We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable,” the MEA said in a statement issued by the official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.