With American and British airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen escalating tensions, India's top diplomat S. Jaishankar undertakes a vital mission to Iran.
Jaishankar is scheduled to confer with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahain, and potentially meet with the President of the Shia-majority nation, Ebrahim Raisi, in Tehran.
Key agenda items for discussions between Jaishankar and Iran's top leadership include the evolving humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Houthi assaults on civilian naval vessels in the Red Sea.
Jaishankar's reported visit to Tehran comes just days after British and American forces carried out overnight airstrikes on Houthi military centers, including their radar stations.
Iranian and Indian experts have questioned the West's intentions behind the military operation against the Houthis, saying it risks sparking a wider conflagration in the region.
US, UK Actions Against the Houthis Will Increase Tensions in the Region
"Once again, the US and the UK have violated a UN Security Council decision and increased tensions in order to protect the Israeli government. Although Blinken said that the US is supposedly trying to bring peace to the Middle East, these US actions will definitely make the region extremely tense," Emad Abshenas, an Iranian political analyst, told Sputnik.
"Now we have to see how much this decision of Biden will cost America and whether the blind support of Netanyahu and his government is so valuable to Biden and his government that they jeopardise the national interests of America and other countries of the world or not," he added.
It is worth noting that India is not a member of the US-led security alliance in the Red Sea.
On the other hand, India has continuously backed a two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, besides expressing concerns over the rising number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.
Following the surprise Hamas attack on Israel, Tel Aviv's military campaign in the densely populated region has resulted in nearly 23,500 casualties in the Palestinian territory.