India, Dec. 25 -- Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday recalled his meeting with the head of the political bureau of Hamas hours before his assassination in Iran back in 2024. During his address at a book launch recently, Gadkari spoke about attending the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran in July that year, and recalled how a Hamas leader was given priority at the event.

While the union minister didn't name him directly in his speech, the remarks most likely referred to Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political chief who was killed in Tehran after attending Pezeshkian's inauguration ceremony.

Looking back at the swearing-in ceremony, Nitin Gadkari said that he was there because Prime Minister Narendra Mo...