A phone call between Mohsen Rezaei, who heads Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval took place on Monday. A readout from the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi indicated that the two officials held talks covering developments in the region and matters of shared concern.
The Iranian Embassy in India shared details on X of the call, in which Rezaei, serving as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, and Doval exchanged assessments on recent developments across the region and on matters of shared concern to both nations. The embassy's post noted that the conversation also touched on the state of ties between the two countries.
The talks unfolded against a backdrop of unresolved disputes across the region and a series of incidents targeting vessels engaged in commercial trade.
Two Indian crew members aboard the Nicaragua-flagged tanker MT Petro Dolphin have yet to be located following a drone strike at Sohar Anchorage on 11 October. Nine of the vessel's 11 Indian seafarers had been brought to safety, according to a statement from Sarbananda Sonowal, who holds the ports, shipping and waterways portfolio in the Union Cabinet.
Sonowal's post on X stated that on 11 October the tanker MT Petro Dolphin, with 11 Indian seafarers aboard, came under drone attack while anchored at Sohar Anchorage. Nine of the crew members from India have been brought to safety, while the whereabouts of two others remain unaccounted for. Crews from the local Coast Guard have been deployed and are conducting search-and-rescue work in the area.
Sonowal indicated that coordination with all relevant authorities remained active, with the stated aim of supporting the ongoing rescue operation and pursuing every available avenue to locate the missing personnel. Diplomatic staff at the Indian mission in Oman reported that they were tracking developments on the ground and had maintained open lines of communication with the relevant local authorities.
Sonowal's post on X also confirmed that the 11 crew members from India aboard the Marshall Islands-registered tanker M/T Valthera escaped without injury after the vessel was struck by a projectile of unidentified origin in the Strait of Hormuz on 11 October, a hit that triggered a fire on board. Sonowal stated that the vessel's management company was being kept informed through ongoing contact, with the crew's safety and welfare under continuous monitoring.
A drone strike hit the Panama-flagged crude carrier MT GEM NO. 2 while it lay at anchor off Sharjah on October 9, with all 22 crew members aboard holding Indian nationality. All 22 seafarers from India aboard the vessel were unharmed, according to Sonowal's statement. The three incidents formed part of a series of vessel attacks in Gulf waters.
Esmail Baghaei, the Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, put forward the position that Tehran holds influence over the energy corridor, adding that a return to regional stability is contingent on an end to what he described as foreign military operations and economic restrictions. Baghaei also took issue with the stance advanced by Washington, arguing that observable realities on the ground diverge from what American officials have been telling the public.
Baghaei noted that others are free to assert the Strait of Hormuz has lost its strategic value and that Iran's position has weakened, while adding that his side is pursuing its own course of action. Mohsen Rezaei posted on X that while certain conditions from a seven-point list put forward by Tehran had drawn acceptance from Washington, the overall reply fell short of what his government considered a workable basis for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Rezaei wrote in the post that the approach to diplomacy had shifted and a return to previous arrangements was no longer on the table.
