New Delhi: With tensions across West Asia showing no signs of easing, India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, spoke over the phone on Monday, with the security situation in the region understood to be at the centre of their discussion, PTI reported.
The Iranian Embassy in New Delhi disclosed the conversation through a social-media post, saying the two officials “exchanged views on the latest regional and international developments and issues of mutual interest to the two countries”. New Delhi has not issued any official account of the call.
The talks reportedly took place against the backdrop of escalating violence in the Gulf, including the recent assault on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The attack left 12 people dead and injured more than 300, with one Indian national among those killed.
India had on Sunday denounced the strike on the Riyadh airport, describing the repeated targeting of civilians and civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia as “completely unacceptable and must cease immediately”.
New Delhi has repeatedly urged that the widening crisis in West Asia be addressed through dialogue and diplomatic engagement rather than military escalation. It has also voiced growing alarm over a series of assaults on commercial vessels navigating the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz.
Those maritime incidents are believed to have been part of the discussion between Doval and Rezaei. On Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs said the tanker MT Petro Dolphin, which had 11 Indian crew members, was reportedly hit by a drone in the Strait of Hormuz. Two of the Indian seafarers remain unaccounted for.
In a separate incident the same day, MT Valthera — also carrying 11 Indian crew members — was struck by an unidentified projectile, sparking a fire aboard the vessel. The MEA said all Indian sailors on that ship were safe.
“All 11 Indian seafarers onboard MT Valthera are reported to be safe,” the ministry said.