page_title: Foreign relations of India
section_title: Iran
hierarchical_section_title: Foreign relations of India / India's relationship with Middle East countries / Iran
caption_attribution_description: Rabindranath Tagore meets members of Iran's parliament. Image is from early 1930's in Tehran's Majles.
context_page_description: The Ministry of External Affairs, also known as the Foreign Ministry, is the government agency responsible for the conduct of foreign relations of India. With the world's third largest military expenditure, largest armed force, fifth largest economy by nominal rates and third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, India is a regional power, a nuclear power, a nascent global power and a potential superpower. India has a growing international influence and a prominent voice in global affairs.
  India faces serious economic and social issues as a result of centuries of economic exploitation by colonial powers. However, since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, India has become a newly industrialised country, has a history of collaboration with several countries, is a component of the BRICS and a major part of developing world. India was one of the founding members of several international organisations—the United Nations, the Asian Development Bank, New Development BRICS Bank, and G-20—and the founder of the Non-Aligned Movement.
context_section_description: Independent India and Iran established diplomatic links on 15 March 1950.
  After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iran withdrew from CENTO and dissociated itself from US-friendly countries, including Pakistan, which automatically meant improved relationship with the Republic of India.
  Currently, the two countries have friendly relations in many areas. There are significant trade ties, particularly in crude oil imports into India and diesel exports to Iran. Iran frequently objected to Pakistan's attempts to draft anti-India resolutions at international organisations such as the OIC. India welcomed Iran's inclusion as an observer state in the SAARC regional organisation. Lucknow continues to be a major centre of Shiite culture and Persian study in the subcontinent.
  In the 1990s, India and Iran both supported the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan against the Taliban regime. They continue to collaborate in supporting the broad-based anti-Taliban government led by Hamid Karzai and backed by the United States.
  However, one complex issue in Indo-Iran relations is the issue of Iran's nuclear programme. In this intricate issue, India tries to make a delicate balance. According to Rejaul Laskar, an Indian expert on international relations, "India's position on Iran's nuclear programme has been consistent, principled and balanced, and makes an endeavour to reconcile Iran's quest for energy security with the international community's concerns on proliferation. So, while India acknowledges and supports Iran's ambitions to achieve energy security and in particular, its quest for peaceful use of nuclear energy, it is also India's principled position that Iran must meet all its obligations under the international law, particularly its obligations under the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other such treaties to which it is a signatory"
  Following an attack on an Israeli diplomat in India in February 2012, the Delhi Police contended that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had some involvement in the attack. This was subsequently confirmed in July 2012, after a report by the Delhi Police found evidence that members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had been involved in the 13 February bomb attack in the capital.
caption: Seen here is Rabindranath Tagore as a guest of Iran's parliament in the 1930s.
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