New Delhi — India has not issued an official response to reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a strike on Tehran, even as the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi called on countries around the world not to remain silent.
Ministry of External Affairs officials said they were closely monitoring developments in West Asia but did not offer a public comment, signaling a cautious diplomatic stance as military exchanges involving the US, Israel and Iran continued to unfold.
In a strongly worded statement after reports of Khamenei’s death, the Iranian mission in New Delhi expressed deep sorrow over what it called the martyrdom of the leader and accused Washington and Tel Aviv of bearing responsibility for the consequences. The embassy urged independent and freedom-seeking governments to condemn the act and to refuse to ignore what it described as lawlessness and aggression.
The outreach comes amid fears that retaliatory strikes could escalate into a wider regional conflict. India has long sought to balance ties with Iran against growing strategic partnerships with the United States and Israel, a balancing act that often produces measured, low-key responses in crises.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned days earlier from a two-day state visit to Israel that elevated bilateral relations to a special strategic partnership, underscoring New Delhi’s close ties with Tel Aviv. At the same time, India has important economic and strategic stakes in regional stability: energy imports, the wellbeing of millions of Indian nationals working in the Gulf, and connectivity projects such as Iran’s Chabahar port.
Those considerations help explain New Delhi’s restrained public posture. Officials say India will continue to monitor the situation and calibrate its diplomatic approach in line with its national interests and broader regional stability.
