TEHRAN, June 18: Iran’s influential Supreme National Security Council has said Tehran must do all in its power to ease tension between Islamabad and New Delhi, newspapers said on Tuesday.

“It is Iran’s duty to use all its power to create stability and ease the tension between the two countries,” the state-owned Iran newspaper quoted the council’s secretary-general, Hassan Rohani, as telling Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran.

The council is made up of Iran’s president, top ministers, representatives of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the commanders of the armed forces and the head of the judiciary and as such has strong influence on policy.

“Iran is extremely worried about the increase of tension between India and Pakistan and believes that inflaming the tension should not be allowed,” Hassan Rohani said. Iran’s Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi offered to mediate between India and Pakistan following a visit to the two South Asian nations last month.—Reuters