The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: India on September 15 condemned Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s claim that Muslims in India are “suffering” like those in Gaza and Myanmar as “unacceptable” and urged Iran to reflect on its own treatment of minorities.
In his address to Islamic scholars in Tehran, Khamenei noted the existence of an Islamic universal brotherhood and suggested that this should make Muslims more aware of the hardships faced by others.
The speech in Farsi was uploaded on his official website, and then an excerpt was posted on his X account.
“The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah. 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,” stated the X post.
A few hours later, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal issued a statement criticising the Iranian leader’s remarks.
“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,” he posted.
India has had close relations with Iran, with New Delhi even working with Tehran on the strategic port of Chabahar. The Indian vice President had attended the funeral of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in May this year. A senior Indian minister had also represented New Delhi at the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian in July.
Despite the strong ties, this is not the first time the Iranian Supreme Leader has commented on the situation of Muslims in India and the Kashmir dispute.
His most recent reference to Indian Muslims came in March 2020, during the Delhi riots. “The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The govt of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam,” Ayatollah Khamenei’s official account had tweeted then.
After then Iranian foreign minister Javed Zarif had also expressed concern at the violent riots, the Iranian ambassador was summoned to the external affairs ministry.
The Ayatollah has been a more frequent commentator on Kashmir, having made statements about Kashmir which he had visited in early 1980s. His last comment on Kashmir was in August 2019, though for years before that he had regularly listed Kashmiri Muslims in the list of oppressed communities.
In November 2010, India had summoned the acting Iranian ambassador to lodge a protest over the critical statements of the Ayatollah on Kashmir.