Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh on Friday said “Americans are exercising the practice of Nazi Germany when they attacked a ceremonial, unarmed and unloaded vessel”, referring to the torpedoing of IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday that killed nearly 100 sailors.

The remark comes a day after Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi described the torpedoing of the frigate as a “war crime”.

Khatibzadeh was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue, where he met external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and insisted that Iran had not closed the Strait of Hormuz. “It has not been closed by us, not now. If we are going to close it, we will announce it,” the Iranian minister said during an interactive session.

On Monday, Reuters quoted a senior official of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as saying that the strait was closed and Iran would fire on any ship trying to sail through it. A report in Iran’s state-run broadcaster IRIB on Thursday said this order had been revised by the IRGC, allowing all ships other than those belonging to the US, Israel and their western allies.

Asked if he was in touch with anyone in the Indian government, Khatibzadeh said: “Yes, I had a brief meeting with the foreign minister of India and a brief encounter with others. What is important is that everybody is supporting the international law, and we hope that we are not cherry-picking international law. Unfortunately, principles of international law have been attacked, and we have to stand together against these atrocities. Americans have assassinated the head of another state. If it is the new norm, then nobody, no country on earth can actually have diplomatic normalisation with other countries.”

There was no official word from the external affairs ministry on the meeting, barring a post by Jaishankar himself. He posted a photograph of his meeting with Khatibzadeh without any comment.

Asked at the Raisina Dialogue to explain the cycle of escalation this time round, the Iranian minister insisted the US and Israel had forced them into the situation by bombing Iran after reaching an agreement in Geneva.

“This is a TV reality show. They invite you to have diplomacy in place while they are making a military build-up. There is no actual understanding of why they started this…. In the middle of diplomacy, they attacked us, and betrayed diplomacy,” he said.

On the rationale behind expanding the zone of conflict by attacking GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, Khatibzadeh said: “This is an existential war for Iran… we have no option but to hit wherever the Americans are originating their attack from…. This war is a war for the region. This is Israel’s war; they dragged Americans into this war…. This war is a war for international rules.”

Ceramic units

Nearly 100 ceramic manufacturing units have shut down in Gujarat's Morbi district following a disruption in fuel supplies linked to the US-Israel-Iran war, with industry representatives warning that another 400 factories may close within days if the supply doesn't normalise.

Manoj Arvadiya, president of the Morbi Ceramic Manufacturers Association (Vitrified Tiles Division), said the situation could worsen in the coming days if propane supplies were not restored and suppliers failed to issue clear guidelines.