Iran FM Zarif meets Jaishankar in Delhi

By ANI | Published: January 16, 2020 09:37 AM2020-01-16T09:37:51+5:302020-01-16T10:00:02+5:30

Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here on Thursday.

Iran FM Zarif meets Jaishankar in Delhi | Iran FM Zarif meets Jaishankar in Delhi

Iran FM Zarif meets Jaishankar in Delhi

Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Zarif held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue 2020 which is currently going on in the national capital.

The visiting dignitary also met National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

Zarif, who participated in the Raisina Dialogue 2020, targetted the US over its air raid which killed Iran general Qassem Soleim in Iraq earlier this month.

He said that US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the Islamic State (ISIS) are "celebrating" the death of Soleim.

Talking about Iran's airstrikes at two military bases in Iraq, Zarif maintained that Tehran retaliated in "self-defence" and rebuffed Washington's claims that Soleim was planning to attack US embassies.

Soleim, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport on January 3. Days later, Tehran retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles at two US military bases in Iraq.

Soleim's death marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the US and Iran, that has often been at a fever pitch since Trump, in 2018, chose to unilaterally withdraw Washington from the 2015 nuclear pact the world powers had struck with Tehran.

Countries including the UK and India have urged Iran to pursue urgent de-escalation.

( With inputs from ANI )

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