India can use its influence to convince Israel to stop genocide in Gaza: Iran's envoy

Iran's Ambassador urges India to play a more active role in West Asia crisis amid escalating tensions.

Terming India as a “big power” and “important country”, Iran’s Ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) said that there is an expectation that New Delhi can and should play a more active role in the current crisis in West Asia.

Speaking to ANI, Elahi stated that India has good ties with Israel and can use its influence to stop the genocide in this region and Gaza and keep the peace in Palestine. On being asked about India’s role amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia, the Iranian envoy said, “Since the beginning of the tragic events and crimes of Israel in Gaza, I repeatedly mentioned that India is an important country, is a big power and influential country in the international community. Besides this, it has good relations with Israel and Iran and also India, as a non-aligned movement founder had supported Palestine case in the history of the region.”

“So, there is an expectation that India can and should play a more active role in the current crisis in the region and tensions in the region. The government of India has very good relations with the ruling party in Israel and the government of Israel. So, it can use its influence to convince them to stop this genocide in the region and in Gaza, and stop crimes and keep the peace in Palestine. From the Iranian side, we are in collaboration with India in many cases and we hope that, you know, we are trying to convince India to keep peace in the region,” he said.

Over 2000 Hamas terrorists breached Israeli borders on October 7, killing 1200 Israelis and taking around 250 as hostages, out of whom around 120 are still in Hamas captivity, with many of them feared dead. Following this, Israel launched a strong counteroffensive, carrying out military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with the aim of “completely eliminating” the group.

The tensions in West Asia have further escalated after Hamas’ political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran’s capital, Tehran on Wednesday (July 31, 2024). The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that Ismail Haniyeh had been killed in an attack in Tehran. A projectile hit a residence allocated to war veterans in Tehran at 2 a.m. (local time), according to a Press TV report.

Haniyeh, who was based in Qatar, travelled to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian President-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian, according to a Press TV report.

On Thursday (August 1, 2024), the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced that Hamas military wing commander Mohammed Deif had been killed in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on July 13. In a post on X, IDF stated, “We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated.” The Israeli military said that it obtained intelligence confirming his death in the past few hours.