Why did the Iranian foreign minister cancel his visit to India?

Why did the Iranian foreign minister cancel his visit to India?

A promotional video for New Delhi’s ‘Roy Sena Dialogue’ included two seconds of footage of an Iranian woman cutting her hair. Expressing its deep displeasure, Iran canceled the foreign minister’s proposed visit to India

According to the news published in the Indian media, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahian was going to visit India to participate in the ‘Roy Sena Dialogue’ in New Delhi on March 3 and 4, but now he has canceled this visit due to a two-second video. have done.

 The Indian Ministry of External Affairs, in association with Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a well-known think tank, organizes the ‘Roy Sena Dialogue’ every year, in which important political and social leaders from around the world, as well as important people with ties to other fields, participate. Personalities participate. It is considered quite important in terms of strategic decision-making. This year this program is to be held between March 2 and 4.

A promotional video of about two minutes has been released for this program, which mentions the challenges facing the world and the problems faced by different countries. In one place, there is a video of about two seconds with a picture of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the top and a picture of an Iranian woman cutting her hair at the bottom.

Why is Iran angry?

The Indian newspaper Indian Express has written that, angry with this video clip, Iran contacted the ORF and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its embassy in Delhi and objected to showing the president’s photo in the same frame as the protesters.

He asked for the video clip to be removed but the organizers of Rai Sena Dialogue refused to do so.

Angry with this decision, the Tehran government told the organizers that Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahian will not join the Rai-Sena dialogue.

It should be noted that last September in Iran, a series of protests started across the country against the death of an Iranian woman Mehsa Amini in the custody of the moral police. The protesters are opposing the government’s strict rules regarding the hijab. During these protests, at some places, women cut their hair as a protest.

Interestingly, India has not commented on these protests so far.

Last November, Germany and the Netherlands proposed to the United Nations Human Rights Commission to establish a fact-finding mission to investigate serious human rights violations in Iran. 25 countries voted in favor of it, seven opposed it while 16 countries abstained from voting, including India.

What’s in the video?

The promotional video released by ORF for the Roy Sena dialogue begins with a clip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Samarkand last year, in which he said, “This is not an era of war.”

The video also features clips of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Joe Biden and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.

It should be noted that an important meeting of foreign ministers of G20 countries will be held in India on March 1 and 2. Rai Sena Dialogue will be held soon after.

It is understood that foreign ministers of many countries will participate in it. Apart from G20, foreign ministers of many countries are coming to New Delhi to participate in the Roy Sena Dialogue

Relations between India and Iran

The long diplomatic relationship between Iran and India has had ups and downs. In recent years, the relationship between New Delhi and Tehran has become strategic due to the situation in Afghanistan.

India stopped importing oil from Iran due to threats of sanctions by the previous US Trump administration and it has still not reached its previous levels.

Both India and Iran have expressed concerns about the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, but India is building the Chabahar port in Iran, which will connect Afghanistan to Central Asia.

In June last year, Amir Abdullahian visited India after BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s controversial statement about the Prophet of Islam, on which many Muslim countries expressed strong anger.

 After meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Iran’s foreign minister issued a statement in which the two countries agreed that “universal religions” and ” There is a need to respect “Islamic sanctities” and “avoid derogatory statements”.