New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Friday that India should have issued condolences immediately after the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, regardless of not condemning the US-Israeli action.
The Lok Sabha MP called it “the most appropriate thing to do,” stressing the importance of restraint in foreign policy during such conflicts. He added that he would have advised the same to a Congress government.
“I agree with the critics. The very first day of the conflict, when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killed, we should have expressed our condolences. That would have been the most appropriate thing to do. It would have been the right thing to do given his role in the country,” Tharoor told ANI, as reported by Mint.
Tharoor pointed to India’s prompt response following the 2024 helicopter crash death of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
“When President Raisi died in the helicopter crash, we immediately declared mourning and issued condolences. However, I am glad that when the Iranian Embassy in Delhi opened a condolence book, our Foreign Secretary was sent immediately to express condolences,” Tharoor said.
He drew a sharp line between condolences and condemnation, arguing India could sympathize with Iran’s loss without critiquing the strike.
“There is a difference between condolence and condemnation. If you feel politically that you are not going to condemn what the American-Israeli attack has done, that’s fine. However, condolence is an expression of sympathy for the bereaved one and to the government and people of Iran. That is something we could have done,” Tharoor said.
Khamenei was killed on February 28 in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on Iran, confirmed by state media hours after US President Donald Trump announced it. India formally responded on March 5, with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri signing the condolence book at the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi and meeting the Iranian ambassador.
