For the First Time in Seven Years, Ayatollah Khamenei Rakes Up Kashmir

The Wire (India)

27 June 2017

For the first time in seven years, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has reportedly mentioned Kashmir, equating the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir with that of Yemen and Bahrain as requiring the support of “all Muslim nations”

According to Sumitha N. Kutty, a foreign affairs specialist who tracks India and Iran, the difference from 2010 is that “we are in a post-deal environment where India is working very hard (with Iran) to bring its strategic projects like the Chabahar port to fruition, despite the U.S. president’s moves to undermine the nuclear deal”.

“Khamenei’s remarks seem quite unhelpful at this juncture. India and Iran continue to go back and forth on the Chabahar port project, which remains plagued by delays. U.S. behaviour regarding sanctions means private players remain hesitant to get on board as well,” Kutty, an associate research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, told The Wire.

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Last updated on 03/07/2017