Ayatollah Khamenei’s Rare Kashmir Visit And His Views On Article 370 Abrogation
Ayatollah Khamenei’s 1980 Kashmir visit and his critiques of India’s 2019 Article 370 abrogation highlight his enduring concern for Kashmiri Muslims.
Published : March 2, 2026 at 1:25 PM IST
Srinagar: Long before he became an influential political and religious figure in West Asia, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had visited Kashmir and spoken publicly about the condition of Muslims in the region. Decades later, as Iran’s Supreme Leader, he continued to comment on the Kashmir issue and openly criticised India following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Historical accounts indicate that Khamenei visited Kashmir in 1980, soon after the Iranian Revolution. During that trip, he addressed a gathering at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar. The visit remains a relatively lesser-known episode in Kashmir’s modern political and religious history.
Khamenei, who was 41 then, was emerging as a significant voice in the post-revolution leadership of Iran. During the revolution, Iran had undergone sweeping political change after the fall of the last Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) in 1979.
During his address at Jamia Masjid, Khamenei spoke about the broader condition of Muslims worldwide and expressed solidarity with people facing political or social struggles. His speech drew attention from religious scholars and political observers in Kashmir who were closely following developments in Iran after the revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the country's first Supreme Leader, who served from 1979 till his death in 1989.
During the visit, Khamenei also addressed Shia gatherings at Srinagar’s Zadibal Imambara, visited Hazratbal Shrine, and travelled to Budgam, where members of the prominent Agha family hosted him.
The visit also reflected the ideological outreach of Iran during the early years after the revolution, when its leaders sought to build connections with other Muslim communities across the world.
Years later, Khamenei publicly commented on the situation in Kashmir after India revoked Article 370 in August 2019, ending the region’s special constitutional status and downgrading the erstwhile state into two union territories.
In a statement posted on social media on August 21, 2019, he expressed concern over developments in the region.
“We are concerned about the situation of Muslims in Kashmir,” he wrote. “Our relations with India are good. However, India should adopt a just policy and prevent oppression against the Muslims of the region.”
We’re concerned about Muslims’ situation in #Kashmir. We have good relations with India, but we expect the Indian government to adopt a just policy towards the noble people of Kashmir and prevent the oppression & bullying of Muslims in this region.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) August 21, 2019
“The current situation in Kashmir and the disputes between India and Pakistan regarding it are a result of the vicious British government’s measures while leaving the Indian subcontinent. The British intentionally left this wound in that region to sustain conflicts in Kashmir,” he said.
His remarks drew attention in diplomatic and political circles because they came from the supreme leader of Iran, a country that generally maintains balanced relations with India.
Khamenei had also spoken about Kashmir decades earlier. In 1990, he referred to the region while discussing the treatment of Muslim communities globally.
“Look, wherever there is a Muslim community in the world, they are treated far more harshly than others. Kashmir is a contemporary example of this,” he said in remarks that were later widely circulated.
He said Muslims in Kashmir were raising their voices for their rights and described their demands as legitimate.
“Anyone aware of what has happened in Kashmir knows that what the Muslims of Kashmir are saying is nothing but truth and justice,” he said. “Those who try to silence them have unjust motives. Those who attack them are the ones doing wrong. Ironically, the world is watching all this with indifference.”
Despite such remarks, diplomatic relations between India and Iran have historically remained pragmatic and cooperative.
Iran, which shares a border with Pakistan and has strategic interests linked to Afghanistan and trade routes toward Central Asia, has often pursued a balanced approach toward South Asian regional politics.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan attempted to introduce a resolution against India at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) over alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. Had the effort succeeded, India could have faced international diplomatic pressure and potential sanctions.
PV Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister of India, sought support from Iran and dispatched the then External Affairs Minister Dinesh Singh to Tehran to counter the diplomatic push.
Iran’s foreign minister personally received Singh at the airport, signalling the importance Tehran attached to the engagement. A message was also conveyed to the Iranian president regarding India’s concerns about the proposed resolution.
When the matter came up within the OIC, Iran did not support the resolution backed by Pakistan. The proposal, which accused India of human rights violations in Kashmir and called for sanctions, failed to gain momentum and ultimately did not advance to the United Nations.
Also Read
