Current Affairs Topics Archive
International Relations Economics Polity & Governance Environment & Ecology Science & Technology Internal Security Geography Social Issues Art & Culture Modern History

‘This is a TV reality show, no understanding why US & Israel started this’—Iran’s deputy foreign minister

March 06, 2026 6 min read International Relations GS2 (India's Foreign Policy; Bilateral Regional and Global Groupings; Important International Institutions)
On This Page ▼

What Happened

  • Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh attended India's Raisina Dialogue 2026 (11th edition, March 5–7) and described the US-Israel attack on Iran as an "existential war" based on a lie.
  • Speaking at the Dialogue, Khatibzadeh said: "This is a TV reality show — no understanding why US and Israel started this," questioning the intelligence basis for the February 28, 2026 strikes.
  • He described the US-Israel attack as coming "amid parallel negotiations between Tehran and regional countries on a new security architecture" — suggesting diplomacy was actively underway when the strikes began.
  • Khatibzadeh met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on the sidelines, invoking shared "Indo-Persian civilisational roots" and the importance of Iran-India relations.
  • Iran declared it has "no option" but to pursue "heroic nationalist defence" and will resist to the "last bullet and last soldier," while simultaneously maintaining diplomacy as "the only option."
  • Experts at the Raisina Dialogue 2026 warned that conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine are "bleeding together" with Indo-Pacific security — a systemic escalation risk.

Static Topic Bridges

The Raisina Dialogue: India's Premier Geopolitics Forum

The Raisina Dialogue is India's flagship annual conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, co-organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). It serves as a platform for high-level diplomatic signalling alongside its academic and policy functions.

  • Named after Raisina Hill — the promontory in New Delhi where the Indian Parliament and President's residence (Rashtrapati Bhavan) are situated, symbolising the seat of Indian governance.
  • Established: 2016 (first edition); modelled conceptually on events like the Munich Security Conference and the Shangri-La Dialogue.
  • The 2026 (11th) edition theme: "Saṁskāra — Assertion, Accommodation, Advancement" — reflecting India's approach of asserting its interests while accommodating diverse partnerships.
  • The six thematic pillars of the 2026 Dialogue included: "Contested Frontiers: Power, Polarity, and Periphery" and "Repairing the Commons" — directly relevant to the Iran war's implications for global order.
  • The Dialogue's significance as a diplomatic venue: Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister attending during an active war with the US — and meeting the Indian EAM — signals that New Delhi is being used as a neutral channel for diplomatic signalling.

Connection to this news: The fact that Iran sent its Deputy Foreign Minister to India's premier geopolitics conference — while simultaneously fighting a war with the US — underscores New Delhi's valued position as a non-Western, non-aligned interlocutor with credibility in both Washington and Tehran.

Iran's West Asia Security Architecture Negotiations: The Regional Diplomatic Context

Khatibzadeh's claim that US-Israel strikes came "amid parallel negotiations between Tehran and regional countries on a new security architecture" provides important context for understanding why Iran characterises the attack as politically motivated.

  • In recent years, Iran has been engaged in diplomatic normalisation with Gulf Arab states: the China-brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia deal (March 2023) restored diplomatic relations after a seven-year rupture, with both countries reopening embassies.
  • The Abraham Accords (2020) established normalisation between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan — reshaping West Asian geopolitics and isolating Iran diplomatically from its traditional Arab rivals.
  • Iran's regional security initiative involves discussions with Iraq, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait about a collective security framework that would reduce dependence on US security guarantees and position Iran as a legitimate regional power.
  • The 2026 conflict interrupted this emerging Iranian diplomatic track: Khatibzadeh's framing — that the US-Israel attack was a deliberate attempt to destroy a diplomatic process — is consistent with Iran's characterisation of the strike as politically, not security-motivated.
  • The death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the conflict (confirmed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 6, 2026) adds a profound leadership transition dimension to the crisis.

Connection to this news: Understanding Iran's diplomatic track — the Saudi normalisation, the regional security architecture discussions — is essential to evaluating its claim that the war was initiated despite active diplomacy. This framing matters for how non-Western countries, including India, BRICS members, and the Global South, assess the legitimacy of US-Israel actions.

Track II Diplomacy and Multi-Layered International Negotiations

The Khatibzadeh statement about "parallel negotiations" highlights the role of Track II and Track 1.5 diplomacy — informal, often confidential channels of communication between adversarial states that operate alongside (or sometimes in place of) formal diplomatic relations.

  • Track I diplomacy: Official government-to-government diplomacy through recognised diplomatic channels (embassies, foreign ministers, heads of state).
  • Track II diplomacy: Unofficial dialogue between non-governmental experts, academics, and former officials, aimed at building mutual understanding and creating frameworks that can inform Track I processes.
  • Track 1.5: Hybrid formats where officials participate in personal (non-official) capacity alongside civil society experts.
  • The Iran nuclear talks (2015 JCPOA) involved extensive Track II engagement through the Oman channel — with Sultan Qaboos of Oman as a trusted intermediary between Tehran and Washington.
  • Post-2018, Qatar has served as the primary back-channel for US-Iran communications; Oman has also continued hosting informal contacts.
  • The Raisina Dialogue itself functions as a Track 1.5 format — Khatibzadeh's presence and statements there are both officially sanctioned and diplomatically deniable as "conference remarks" rather than formal government positions.

Connection to this news: Khatibzadeh's statement that diplomacy was underway when the strikes began — and that India should understand why the US acted as it did — is itself a Track 1.5 diplomatic communication: appealing to New Delhi to use its channels with Washington to transmit Iran's message.

Conflict Escalation Theory and the "Bleeding Theatres" Warning

The Raisina Dialogue expert warning that West Asia and Ukraine conflicts are "bleeding together" with Indo-Pacific security reflects established escalation theory in international security studies.

  • Horizontal escalation: A conflict spreads geographically to new actors or new theatres — distinct from vertical escalation (increasing intensity within the same conflict).
  • The Iran war's connection to the Indo-Pacific involves: (i) disruption of oil supply chains affecting Asian economies; (ii) potential Strait of Hormuz closure affecting Japan, South Korea, China, and India; (iii) US naval repositioning from Indo-Pacific to the Gulf, reducing deterrence against China in the Taiwan Strait.
  • Ukraine-West Asia linkage: Russia has reportedly increased arms supplies to Iran during the conflict; Iran has been supplying Russia with Shahed drones for use in Ukraine. A direct US-Iran war creates pressure on Russia to deepen support for Tehran, complicating the US's simultaneous Ukraine policy.
  • Conflict linkage creates systemic risk: decisions made in one theatre can have cascading, unintended consequences in another — a key analytical framework in UPSC GS2's coverage of international security and India's strategic environment.

Connection to this news: The "bleeding theatres" warning, voiced at India's own premier geopolitics forum while Iran's Deputy FM was in the room, reflects the global community's concern that the 2026 Iran war is not a contained regional conflict but a potential trigger for a multi-theatre global crisis — with India's Indian Ocean neighbourhood at the intersection.

Key Facts & Data

  • Raisina Dialogue 2026: 11th edition, March 5–7, New Delhi; organised by ORF + Ministry of External Affairs; theme: "Saṁskāra — Assertion, Accommodation, Advancement."
  • Jaishankar-Khatibzadeh meeting: Sidelines of Raisina Dialogue, March 6, 2026.
  • Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Died during the conflict — confirmed by China's MFA condolences (March 6, 2026).
  • Iran-Saudi Arabia diplomatic normalisation: Brokered by China, March 2023 — embassies reopened.
  • US-Israel strikes on Iran: Began February 28, 2026.
  • Raisina Dialogue established: 2016; held annually in New Delhi.
  • Qatar back-channel for US-Iran communications: Active since 2018 (after US JCPOA withdrawal).
  • Key Khatibzadeh quote: "This is a TV reality show — no understanding why US and Israel started this."
  • Expert warning at Raisina Dialogue: "Theaters are bleeding together" — West Asia, Ukraine, Indo-Pacific conflicts converging.