New Delhi

The representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in India, Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, said on Saturday that Tehran attaches great importance to its historic ties with India and does not want any conflict in the bilateral relationship.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ANI, Ilahi emphasised that relations between the two countries are rooted in centuries of cultural and civilisational connections.

“The friendship between Iran and India is rooted in more than five thousand years. Iranians are connected to Indians through culture, civilisation, philosophy and spirituality,” he said.

Ilahi also recalled that Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had always advocated stronger cooperation with India.

“The late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Uzma Sayyid Ali Khamenei, wrote his first book about India in two volumes. This shows how much he loved India. Several times he insisted on good collaboration and cooperation between Iran and India,” Ilahi said.

He added that even members of Khamenei’s family had expressed admiration for India and its people.

“Whenever I went back to Iran, I met his son and he also insisted on strong collaboration with India and praised Indians, saying they are loyal, honest, kind and smart people,” he said.

Ilahi reiterated that Iran has no intention of creating tensions in its ties with India.

“We never want to have any kind of problems in our relationship and friendship. I am sure there is no conflict or problem in our relationship, which started long ago and will continue,” he said.

During the interview, Ilahi also rejected claims made by Donald Trump that Tehran is seeking negotiations as tensions escalate in West Asia.

He said Iran is not currently interested in negotiations with the United States, arguing that Washington launched attacks during ongoing diplomatic efforts.

“Iran never wants at the moment to negotiate with them because they started this war. We have experience with them. Two times we were negotiating with them and they attacked us,” he said.

Ilahi added that Iran is prepared for a prolonged conflict if necessary and would not submit to external pressure.

“I don’t know any deadline for this war, but Iran is ready to continue it even for five years. We have experience of war. We fought an eight-year war with Iraq, and we are ready,” he said.

He also said Iran had repeatedly attempted to avoid escalation and had urged neighbouring countries to help prevent conflict in the region.

“We didn’t want war. Several times we tried to avoid any kind of war in the region and informed our neighbours that they should try to prevent the region from falling into conflict because it cannot tolerate another war,” he said.

The latest remarks come amid heightened tensions in West Asia following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in joint military strikes by the United States and Israel on February 28.

Meanwhile, Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has expressed serious concern over the escalating crisis, warning that it poses a major threat to global peace and security.

READ MORE: Quran and Gita help Jasmine Sultana crack Assam civil services exam

In a post on X, Guterres said the conflict has caused immense suffering for civilians and urged all sides to pursue de-escalation and dialogue, stressing that diplomacy remains the only viable path forward.