Iran says US ‘bullied' India on Russian oil, now urges world to buy it

Dubai, Mar 14: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the US, despite "bullying India" to end Russian oil imports, is now begging them to buy crude from Moscow, two weeks after its war with Iran.

"The US spent months on bullying India into ending oil imports from Russia," said Araghchi on Friday in a social media post.

"After two weeks of war with Iran, White House is now begging the world - including India - to buy Russian crude," he added.

The remark by Araghchi comes after, on March 5, the US issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil, having previously imposed heavy sanctions related to the war in Ukraine.

Calling out Europe's stance on the conflict in West Asia, the Minister termed the war on Iran "illegal" and said that Europe thought backing an illegal war on Iran would win US support against Russia.

He even termed the current stance of the Trump administration towards the purchase of Russian crude oil as "pathetic".

Meanwhile, India has repatriated the non-essential crew members of an Iranian warship that docked in Kochi on March 4, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

The non-essential sailors left India by a Turkish airline aircraft. The aircraft landed in Kochi late Friday night after picking up the bodies from Colombo of over 80 Iranian sailors of another warship that was sunk by a US submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4.

Over 50 of the 183 crew members have stayed back as the ship, IRIS Lavan, remains in Kochi, they said.

IRIS Lavan has remained in Kochi since March 4. The ship had developed urgent technical issues and was granted emergency docking approval on March 1 following a request from the Iranian side.

It is learnt that the Iranian sailors of IRIS Lavan will travel to Iran by road from Yerevan, Armenia's capital city.

The repatriation of the crew members comes as New Delhi makes efforts to ensure safe passage for over two dozen Indian-flagged merchant vessels currently stationed on either side of the Strait of Hormuz.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Thursday night in the fourth such conversation since the West Asia crisis erupted.

Starting February 28, the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, which came after days of build-up with US President Donald Trump ramping up the pressure on Tehran to agree to a new deal on its nuclear programme.

Iran's retaliation escalated the war to the entire Gulf region.

PTI