amb sk Courtesy: Gateway House
30 April 2026

Unfolding Geopolitics Episode 32 | Iran after the war: survival and strategy 

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history, the Palestine issue, the creation of Israel, and strained U.S.-Iran ties. India’s former ambassador to India, Saurabh Kumar, witnessed the hope of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and its collapse. Unfulfilled hopes have led to reignited tensions. The U.S.-Israeli objectives of regime change are still unmet, and Iran’s survival marks a strategic outcome, despite its domestic economic and military strain. Ambassador Kumar discusses Iran and the ongoing crisis in West Asia. 

Anjuman Atash Bahram, Mumbai, with the winged Farohar symbol at the top. Courtesy: Heritage Institute
2 April 2026

The Persian-Parsi identity

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Persia and India’s impact on each other go back to antiquity, but the extent of the Persian influence on the Parsi identity is more difficult to quantify. Despite their deep cultural connection, Parsis do not identify with Iran as the mother country. Reza Shah Pahlavi, impressed with their achievements in India, wanted them to return to Iran, but they could not be enticed to leave India.

Website articles (61) Courtesy: Ruby Myers / Alchetron
19 March 2026

European Jews in Bombay’s film industry

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The high point of Jewish glamour in Hindi films were led by Indian Baghdadi Jewish women – but also by German-speaking European Jewish male refugees in Bombay. Music composer-conductor-musician Walter Kaufmann, and his friend, scriptwriter Willy Haas, both German-speaking  Czech Jews, introduced a new sensibility and modern techniques into the early talkie era of Hindi cinema

23072016-BlueMosque3 Courtesy: LBB
14 August 2019

The Persian merchants of Bombay

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Bombay’s trade with the Persian Empire grew rapidly in the 19th century because of regular steamship services between the city and prominent Iranian ports such as Bushire. The wealthy and public-spirited Persian merchants, who settled in Bombay, endowed their community with a religious and social infrastructure, in use even today

Ansari Rouhani 2013 MEA Flickr Courtesy: MEA Flickr
12 November 2015

Berthing a new era at Chabahar

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The strategic and geopolitical importance of Iran’s Chabahar Port is not lost on India. It is for this reason that India is keen to partner with Iran on investing in developing berths at the Port. Although the relationship between the two have had its ups and downs, it is time that with a nuclear deal in place between Iran and the P5+1, India realises that it has much more at stake in its relationship with Tehran.

larjani Courtesy: BotMultiChillT/WikimediaCommons
4 December 2012

The Larijani factor in Iranian politics

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The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, will soon visit India. Given that he enjoys Iran's Supreme Leader's confidence, and is Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s rival, he’s likely to be visiting India not just as a Speaker, but also as a key strategist of the Islamic Republic, and a messenger of Khamenei.

tightrope india us Courtesy: The White House
13 June 2012

Iran tests India’s policy

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Apart from bilateral ties, also at play at the India-U.S. Strategic dialogue is the difficult triangulation in India’s relations with the U.S. and Iran. It does not serve India to get enmeshed in the U.S-Iran confrontation. Instead, the relationship must develop on the basis of realpolitik and mutual interest.