Foreign ministers of India and Iran met on Monday in New Delhi to build support against the U.S. rejection of the nuclear accord.
“India follows only U.N. sanctions, and not unilateral sanctions by any country,” Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said at a news conference.
Swaraj was referring to the sanctions announced this month by the United States against Iran. Just for the record, the U.S. President Donald Trump this month withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal and ordered the reimposition of U.S. sanctions suspended under the 2015 accord.
India and Iran have long-standing political and economic ties. During previous United Nation sanctions, India continued to trade with Iran, its top oil suppliers, but when the sanctions choked off banking channels and insurance cover for tankers India was obliged to cut oil imports.
The purpose of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's visit to India is to reach out to major world powers after the US pulled out from the landmark nuclear deal of 2015 under which Tehran had agreed to stop its sensitive nuclear activities in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.