Kamal Ghorui
Iran on Sunday addressed the shooting incident involving India-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz amid rising regional tensions, with its top representative in India stressing strong ties and calling for peace.“The relationship between Iran and India is very strong and I don’t know anything about this event which you mentioned and we hope that it will be okay and it will be solved,” said representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in India Dr Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi.He further called for peace adding to his statement, “We don’t want this war. We want peace, and we hope that the other side will also follow peace so that we can have a peaceful area.”This comes after India lodged a strong protest after two India-flagged ships, Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav, were fired upon while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, forcing them to reverse course mid-journey. The vessels, carrying around 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude, were reported safe, but the incident led to tensions between the two nations.The Ministry of External Affairs summoned Iranian envoy Mohammad Fathali and urged Tehran to resume safe passage for India-bound ships. Meanwhile, reports indicated that multiple vessels, including Greek tankers, also turned back after gunfire as Iran announced the complet eclosure of Hormuz, less than 24 hours after announcing it to be open, citing US blockade as the reason.
