‘Why hesitancy now?’: Congress reiterates ‘compromised PM’ charge over silence on Ayatollah Khamenei’s death | India News
New Delhi: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday took a swipe at the Prime Minister Narendra ModiHe questioned Iran’s reluctance to condemn the death of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.Recalling his earlier accusation of an “uncompromising prime minister”, Ramesh claimed that PM Modi wanted to “avoid antagonizing his American and Israeli friends”, referring to US President Donald Trump and Tel Aviv Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a post on X, he wrote: “Why hesitate now? An uncompromising prime minister would no doubt want to avoid antagonizing his American and Israeli ‘friends’.”The Prime Minister also questioned the silence of Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs after the death of Congress leader Ayatollah Khamenei. “Ayatollah Khamenei, the Constitutional Head of State of Iran, was assassinated by the US and Israel on February 28, 2026. The Prime Minister is silent. The EAM is silent. There is still not a mourning reference in Parliament,” he wrote.His comments came after India supported a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution condemning Iran’s attacks on Middle Eastern countries.“India has rightly condemned Iran’s attacks on Gulf states but has been completely silent on US-Israeli attacks on Iran in the first place. It should be noted that Iran is a part of the BRICS+ forum, which India chairs this year,” he further wrote.Recalling the death of former Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in 2024, Ramesh said the government had earlier declared a day of state mourning and was now hesitating. “In May 2024, the president of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi, was killed in a mysterious helicopter crash. The Modi government ordered a day of mourning on May 21, 2024, and there was a mourning reference when Parliament convened on July 1, 2024,” he wrote.Earlier this month, Khamenei was killed in a coordinated attack by Israel and the United States. He was later succeeded by his second eldest son, Mojtaba Khamenei.