TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) – Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that the cultural and civilizational commonalities are the important bases for advancing and developing relations between Iran and India.

Speaking at a ceremony of the 78th anniversary of the independence of India, Bagheri Kani said, “With pleasure, I convey my most sincere congratulations on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the revolution of the friendly country of India to the government, nation, and also to Mr. Ambassador and diplomats of the embassy and their respected families.”

Undoubtedly, the concept of independence is of paramount importance for any country, and independence is of great importance to the dear people of India, who have earned it with years of hardship and struggle under the wise leadership of outstanding figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, and Abul Kalam Azad, Iran’s top diplomat emphasized.

If, today, all the freedom-seeking people of the world respect the independence struggle of the Palestinian people and condemn the genocidal war of the occupying regime of Israel against Palestinians, crime against humanity, war crime, and child-killing of Zionist regime, they have their roots in this common aspect of philanthropy that back the independence and freedom of all nations throughout the world, he noted.

The cowardly Israeli assassination of ex-Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, who was an official guest of the Islamic Republic of Iran to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of the new president of Iran, is definitely an unforgivable crime that, in addition to violating the national sovereignty, national security and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, violates the stability and security of the region, which should be strongly condemned by all the governments of the world, and deterrent measures should be taken against this criminal and child-killing regime, he said, adding that Iran has reserved the inherent and legitimate right to take revenge on the occupying regime of Israel.

The Islamic Republic of Iran supports a powerful India in the global arena that helps negate unilateralism and strengthen multilateralism in the world and firmly believes that the economic growth and development of India and bolstering the country's status in the world will strengthen peace and development in the region as well, Bagheri Kani underlined.

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