EAM Jaishankar Says India Permitted Docking of Iran Ship in Kochi 'On Humanitarian Grounds' Amid Israel's Mounting Aggression

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday said the decision to allow the Iranian vessel IRIS Lavan to dock at Kochi was taken on humanitarian grounds, as he addressed the ongoing Middle East conflict for the first time at the Raisina Dialogue.

Jaishankar revealed that India had received a request from Iran on the day the United States and Israel began their attacks, asking permission for one of its ships sailing in the region to dock at an Indian port due to a technical issue affecting the vessel and its 183 crew members.

“On March 1, we said you can come in. It took them a few days to sail in, and then they docked in Kochi,” Jaishankar said. “There were a lot of young cadets on board. When the ship had set out and when it arrived here, the situation in the region was totally different.”

The minister emphasised that India approached the situation primarily from a humanitarian perspective.

“We approached the situation from the point of view of humanity, apart from whatever the legal issues were, and I think we did the right thing,” he said.

Jaishankar also described the sinking of another Iranian naval vessel, IRIS Dena, by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean as “unfortunate”.

A day before IRIS Lavan docked in Kochi, a US torpedo struck and sank IRIS Dena, killing around 80 Iranian sailors. Around 32 personnel were later rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The exact date when the circulating video of the incident was filmed, as well as the specific type of warship shown, could not be independently verified. However, the vessel’s deck structure and mast closely resemble file images of warships belonging to the same class as IRIS Dena.