New Delhi: Iran's mission to India on Monday (March 8) issued a statement dismissing media reports of its involvement in a blast near the Israel mission. It said that the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as flag bearers of peace and security in the world, have been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, warmongering and violence globally.

The statement comes more than a month after a suspicious blast took place near the Israel Embassy in New Delhi on January 29, 2021. The embassy said that the event has triggered an unfair onslaught and unsubstantiated defamatory accusations against Iran and that they strongly condemn any act which ensues intimidation and fear, disruption of order and security, and jeopardizing the lives and property of innocent people.

The Iranian Embassy stated:

1. While respecting the honourable government and authorities of India in their endeavour to thoroughly investigate and probe into the above-mentioned incident in order to identify the orchestrators of such actions and to bring them to justice, this embassy strongly repudiates any unsubstantiated allegations or irresponsible comments in this regard and considers them as steps towards realizing the sinister intentions of the enemies of Iran- India relations. Meanwhile, the Iranian authorities have always expressed their readiness to cooperate with the Indian friends in order to unravel the wicked intentions of the spoilers of bilateral relations.

2. In the current juncture in which the long-standing and cordial relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Republic of India is further being boosted and developed in all domains, including in the form of exchange of the two countries’ high rankings political, economic, security and defence delegations, this question deems serious attention whether the said suspicious blast has any benefit for bilateral relations or who would indeed gain from this action?! Is the presumption that this act must have been conducted by third parties who are angry and dissatisfied with the progress in the relations between the governments of Iran and India illogical?

3. The culture, civilization, history and also the national and religious beliefs of the government and people of I. R. Iran would never allow conduct of any actions which are inhumane, terrorist, barbaric and in contravention with human and divine values and which are done in order to cause fear and destruction to the lives of innocent people and even animals and plants.

4. The government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as flag bearers of peace and security in the world, have been on the forefront of fighting against terrorism, warmongering and violence globally and have been themselves victim to terrorism waged by some terrorist governments and their agents. The assassination of thousands of ordinary people, authorities and scientists of the country in the past several decades the last case of which was the recent dastardly assassination of the noted Iranian scientist, Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, deems attention.

5. The Iranian government and nation has never started a war; however, they are courageous defenders who have always made aggressors, warmongers, terrorists and their supporters remorseful by following the principle of legitimate defence and in an honourable manner, not by taking recourse to the cowardly and dastardly methods used by some notorious groups and governments who have founded their survival on the basis of terrorism and killing of innocent and defenceless people.

We expect all the media and commentators not to fall into the traps and thereby unknowingly enforce the scenarios conspired by third parties whose intention and interest is nothing but to deteriorate the growing Iran –India relations.