West Asia Tensions: S Jaishankar speaks with Iranian counterpart amid Strait of Hormuz crisis

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has had at least three conversations with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, amid the Middle East crisis over the past few days. In their last conversation, both diplomats discussed issues pertaining to safety of shipping and India’s energy security, the ministry said in a media briefing on Wednesday.

"Beyond that, it would be premature for me to say anything," said the spokesperson.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India has about 9,000 Indian Nationals in Iran.

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Since the onset of tensions in the Middle East, India relocated most of them to safer locations.

"Our embassy in Tehran are assisting them to return to India via land routes of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Whoever wants to return via land route can get in touch with Indian Embassy in Tehran," said Randhir Jaiswal during the weekly briefing.

Tensions in the Persian Gulf have raised concerns about commercial shipping routes, especially the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime region that roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies pass through.

The Strait is a key global oil transit route and also crucial for India’s energy imports.

The development comes at a time when disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have hurt maritime traffic as the US-Israel-Iran conflict approaches the end of its second week.

On February 28, joint US-Israel strikes against Tehran killed Iran's Supreme Leader, triggering Iran's retaliatory action against several countries in the region.

The Indian government has said it is closely monitoring developments due to risks to commercial shipping and regional stability.