US-Iran tension: Jaishankar holds conversation with Pompeo, highlights India's stakes, concerns

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday held a telephonic discussion with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the evolving situation in the Gulf region and highlighted India's stakes and concerns.

The discussion with his US counterpart comes amid spiralling US-Iran tensions over the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.

"Had a telephonic discussion with Secretary of State @SecPompeo on the evolving situation in the Gulf region. Highlighted India's stakes and concerns," Jaishankar tweeted.

The external affairs minister also had a conversation with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif and said India remained deeply concerned about the levels of tension in the region.

Jaishankar discussed separately the tense situation with Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf Alawi and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Maj Gen Soleimani (62), the head of Iran''s elite al-Quds force and architect of its regional security apparatus, was killed when a US drone fired missiles into a convoy that was leaving the Baghdad International Airport early on Friday. The strike also killed the deputy chief of Iraq''s powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force.

Soleimani's killing was the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions between Iran and the US.

Reacting to the killing of a top Iranian commander by the US, India had on Friday said the increase in tension had alarmed the world and asserted that peace, stability and security in the region is of utmost importance to it.

In a statement, the External Affairs Ministry had said India consistently advocated restraint and continued to do so and it was vital that the situation did not escalate further.