‘Face-Saving Exercise’: Pawan Khera Slams Govt After Foreign Secretary Visits Iran Embassy To Condole Khamenei’s Death

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Centre after India’s Foreign Secretary visited the Iran embassy in New Delhi to sign the condolence book following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In a post on X, Khera described the government’s gesture as a “hypocritical face-saving exercise” and alleged that the condolence came only after political pressure from the opposition.

“A condolence that is extracted through political pressure or public persuasion is no condolence at all, it is a hypocritical face-saving exercise directed at headline management,” the Congress leader wrote.

Khera also laid out what he termed the “chronology” of events, claiming that the government remained silent on the issue for several days. According to him, from February 28 until 2 pm on Thursday, the Centre neither condemned the actions of the United States and Israel nor offered condolences to the people of Iran.

He further alleged that the move to send a representative to the Iranian embassy came only after the Indian National Congress held a press conference criticising the government’s silence and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of avoiding a clear position on the matter.

Claiming the government was in “damage-control mode,” Khera said the BJP realised it had been “exposed” and quickly sent a representative to sign the condolence book at the embassy.

“The BJP is running around like a headless chicken. It has completely lost the plot,” he said in the post.