US Jittery Over India-Iran Chabahar Port Deal

New Delhi: Within hours of New Delhi signing an agreement with Iran to operate the Chabahar Port, the United States said that it's aware of the development, warning of possible sanctions. Chabahar happens to be India's flagship project in the central asia region to boost ties with the landlocked countries, bypassing Pakistan. The US said that it was aware about India's deal with Iran, adding any country having business dealings with Iran runs the risk of sanctions

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel reiterated the US sanctions on Iran will remain. He said that Washington will let India speak on its foreign policy goals. “We’re aware of these reports that Iran and India have signed a deal concerning the Chabahar port. I will let the government of India speak to its own foreign policy goals vis-à-vis the Chabahar port as well as its own bilateral relationship with Iran,” said Patel at a press-conference.

“You’ve heard us say this in a number of instances, that any entity, anyone considering business deals with Iran, they need to be aware of the potential risk that they are opening themselves up to and the potential risk of sanctions,” Patel said. “I will just say, as it relates to the United States, US sanctions on Iran remain in place and we’ll continue to enforce them,” he added.

India has been developing a part of Chabahar Port and discussions on the development of the port date back to 2003 during Iranian President Muhammad Khatami's visit to India. In 2013, India committed to investing USD 100 million towards the development of Chabahar Port.

India and Iran have projected the Chabahar port as a key hub for the INSTC project. The INSTC is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode transport project for moving freight among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. Earlier, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for development of Chabahar Port by India was signed in May 2015. Thereafter, the contract was executed on May 23, 2016, at Tehran (Iran) during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran.

India Signs Historic Pact

New Delhi on Monday signed a historic deal to operate the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar that will help it expand trade with Central Asia. This is the first time India will take over the management of an overseas port.

The long-term agreement was signed by Indian Ports Global Limited (IPGL) and the Port & Maritime Organisation of Iran, an official statement said. IPGL will invest about USD 120 million while another USD 250 million will be raised as debt.

US sanctions on Iran over its suspected nuclear programme had slowed the development of the port.

Why The India-Iran Port Deal is Crucial

The Chabahar port, situated on the Gulf of Oman is aimed at providing New Delhi gateway to reach landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia using a road and rail project called International North-South Transport Corridor, bypassing Pakistan. Chabahar is an oceanic port. By leveraging Chabahar Port, India aims to bypass Pakistan and establish direct access to Afghanistan and beyond, into Central Asia.

Located in Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran's southern coast, the Chabahar port is being developed by New Delhi and Tehran with an aim of boosting connectivity and trade ties. Kandla port in Gujarat is the closest to the Chabahar port at 550 Nautical Miles while the distance between Chabahar and Mumbai is 786 Nautical Miles.