April 19, 2026
Top Iran representative says India-Iran ties strong amid Hormuz shooting incident
The Iranian Supreme Leader’s representative in India said that bilateral ties between the Islamic Republic and New Delhi remained strong, after two Indian vessels were reportedly fired upon while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
“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,” Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi told news agency ANI.
He went on to call for peace in the US-Israeli war with Iran.
“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,” Ilahi said.
On Saturday, India voiced “deep concern” at what it called a “shooting incident” involving two Indian-flagged ships in the critical waterway.
The foreign ministry in New Delhi summoned Iran’s ambassador Mohammad Fathali for a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to lodge its protest over the incident.
A statement from the foreign ministry said that Misri stressed “the importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners”.
It added that Misri recalled that Tehran had previously facilitated the safe passage of several India-bound ships.
Monitoring site TankerTrackers.com said on X that “two Indian vessels were forced back west out of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran’s Sepah (IRGC) Navy”.
It added that one of the vessels was “an Indian-flagged VLCC supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil.”
The two vessels were reported to be among the several ships trying to pass through Hormuz after Iran on Friday declared it open for shipping.
However, a day later Iran announced that it had reimposed its blockade on the waterway.