TEHRAN— Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar made a stopover in Tehran on Wednesday afternoon and held a meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

Jaishankar visited Tehran to present Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s written message to Iranian President-elect Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi. 

Zarif and Jaishankar discussed developments in Afghanistan and exchanged views about the nuclear talks in Vienna aimed to revive the Iran nuclear deal, officially called the JCPOA. 

On the issue of Afghanistan, both sides emphasized that intra-Afghan talks are the only way to solve the current crisis. Jaishankar also thanked Zarif for hosting Taliban and Afghanistan government’s delegations for peace talks. 

In another part of his stopover to Iran, Jaishankar handed Prime Minister Modi’s message to President-elect Raisi. 

This is a first time that a foreign official delivers a confidential message to an Iranian president-elect before his swearing-in as president. 

Jaishankar had made a similar stopover in Iran in September of 2020 while on visit to Moscow.

SA/PA