Kumar said that India was engaged with all the stakeholders dealing with the sanctions and, therefore, it discussed it with Iran also. Zarif told Sushma Swaraj about Iran's interaction with the European Union (EU) and other countries over the sanctions, according to Kumar. The spokesman said that Iran and India had "civilisational ties" going back in time and the discussions went beyond the sanctions issue.
Trump pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Iran signed with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the EU, to end sanctions in return for Teheran stopping nuclear weapons development.
The EU and most countries back the nuclear deal and oppose US sanctions and Trump found himself isolated at the Security Council. Washington's allies, British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, openly opposed Trump at the Security Council meeting and expressed their support for the agreement with Iran.
Kumar declined to comment on foreign media reports that India was going to stop importing Iranian oil.