Middle East crisis: Is US using Indian ports to strike Iran? MEA fact-checks claim | India News – The Times of India

The ministry of external affairs has refuted reports which claimed that US is using India’s ports to strike Iran amid the ongoing escalation in Middle East.This comes after former US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor during an interview with a US-based channel claimed that US was using Indian naval bases in its war against Iran.“All of our bases have been destroyed. Our harbour installations are destroyed. We are actually having to fall back on India and Indian ports, which is less than ideal; that is what the navy says,” Macgregor has said.MEA fact-check account on X rejected the claims, calling them “fake and false.”“Claims being made on OAN, a US based channel, that Indian ports are being used by the US Navy are fake and false. We caution you against such baseless and fabricated comments,” MEA said.India voiced “deep concern” over the escalating tensions in the Middle East, calling on all parties involved to exercise restraint, avoid further escalation and ensure the safety of civilians.Chaos erupted in the Middle East after the joint forces of US and Israel carried out coordinated airstrikes on Iran, killing the country’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Iran retaliated by launching missiles at Israel and targeting American military bases located across Gulf countries.Earlier on Wednesday, a torpedo fired from a US submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean, killing 87 personnel. The vessel had recently been on a friendly visit to India. The strike marked the first instance since World War II in which an American submarine attacked a surface warship.The war entered its sixth day on Thursday with no indication of de-escalation.Reports indicate that the conflict has already claimed more than 1,000 lives in Iran, while about a dozen people have been killed in Israel. At least six US troops have also died in the fighting.US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have defended the offensive, arguing that Iran posed an imminent threat.“If we didn’t do it first, they would have done it to Israel and give us a shot, if that was possible,” Trump said.