India strongly deplores comments on Muslims made by Iranian supreme leader

NEW DELHI, Sep 16 : India on Monday strongly deplored the comments made by Iranian spiritual leader Ali Khamenei who raised the “suffering” of Muslims in India, Gaza and Myanmar in a message calling for solidarity among Muslims around the world.

In a late night statement, India termed Khamenei’s comments as “misinformed and unacceptable” and said that countries that comment on minorities should look at their own record before making any observations about others.

“We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable. Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” the statement read.

On Monday, in a message calling for solidarity among Muslims around the world on the occasion of Prophet Mohammed’s birth anniversary, Khamenei said in a post on X:

“We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in #Myanmar, #Gaza, #India, or any other place,” the Iranian leader said.

“The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah,” he added.

In a separate post on X, Khamenei again raised the issue of the “oppressed people of Gaza and Palestine”. He said that achieving the “important goal of upholding the Islamic Ummah’s honor can only be realized through unity”.

India has close ties with Iran, and currently has a major stake in the Iranian port of Chabahar.

(UNI)