Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi Wednesday arrived in New Delhi on a three-day state visit to participate in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the BRICS member countries.
The visit marks the first high-level diplomatic engagement of Iran since February 28, when the country was attacked by the United States, Israel and their Gulf allies.
Araghchi arrived in New Delhi aboard a special aircraft named “Minab168” – a reference to the US and Israeli killing of 168 little school girls in the Iranian town of Minab at the start of the war.
On the first day of the US and Israeli attack on Iran, Minab Girls’ Primary School in the country’s Hormozgan province was hit by a missile reportedly fired by the United States.
The little girls were in the school at the time of the barbaric attack, leaving 168 of them killed. While Israel has denied its involvement in the attack, the US has also remained silent.
Speaking at the BRICS Foreign Ministers Summit in New Delhi, the Iranian minister slammed Western countries for their silence on the alleged “crimes” the US and Israel have committed against the people of Iran.
“This crime and the silence of Western countries on it can only happen when there is confidence in escaping punishment. We all must shatter this false sense of justice,” he said.
Therefore, Araghchi continued, “Iran appeals to the BRICS member countries and all responsible members of the international community to clearly condemn the violations of international law by America and Israel, including their illegal attack against BRICS member Iran, to stop the politicization of international institutions, and to take concrete action to prevent the fanning of the flames of war and to eliminate the notion of escaping punishment for those who violate the UN Charter.”
He further emphasised the importance of ending the Western dominance and the need to ensure international institutions remain free from serving political interests.
Araghchi is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar. The two leaders are likely to hold wide-ranging discussions on several issues, including the war against Iran and the ongoing energy crisis due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.