Jaishankar holds conversation with Iranian FM, says India deeply concerned about levels of tension

Amid spiralling US-Iran tensions over the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday had a conversation with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif and said India remained deeply concerned about the levels of tension in the region.

Jaishankar noted that developments have taken a very serious turn.

"Just concluded a conversation with FM @JZarif of Iran. Noted that developments have taken a very serious turn. India remains deeply concerned about the levels of tension. We agreed to remain in touch," the External Affairs Minister tweeted.

The conversation between the two leaders comes days after Iran's top military commander Soleimani was killed in a US strike.

US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that the US has identified 52 possible targets in the country and will hit it harder than ever before if Tehran, which has vowed "severe revenge", carries out any attack against America to avenge the killing of Soleimani.

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.