The US is escalating its warnings of possible sanctions against any country considering business deals with Iran, hours after India signed a 10-year deal to operate a strategic port with Tehran.
India had inked a deal to develop the strategically important Chabahar port, near the Iran-Pakistan border, in 2016.
On Monday 5/13, he signed a long-term agreement with Iran for the further development of said infrastructures which of course cements a new, upgraded level of cooperation relations between New Delhi and Tehran. In fact, India’s shipping minister described the agreement as a “historic moment in India-Iran ties”.
Anger at the White House – India is not exempt from the doctrine of sanctions
However, the move appears to have angered the White House, which has imposed more than 600 sanctions on entities or individuals associated with Iran over the past three years.
In particular, at a press conference on Tuesday, Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel reminded that US sanctions on Iran are still in place and that Washington will continue to enforce them.
“Any entity, anyone who is thinking of entering into business deals with Iran needs to be aware of the potential risks they are exposed to and the potential risk of sanctions they may subsequently face,” he pointedly warned. It is pointed out that officially India has not yet responded to the State Department’s statement.
The strategic character of the port of Chabahar
India started the reconstruction work of the port in late 2018. The strategic port opened a transit corridor for Indian goods and products to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing the land route through Pakistan hostile to Indian interests.
So far, 2.5 million tonnes of wheat and 2,000 tonnes of pulses have been shipped from India to Afghanistan through the Chabahar port, officials reveal.
On Monday, India’s Ministry of Shipping said that Indian Ports Global Limited (IPGL) and the Port & Maritime Organization of Iran signed a long-term agreement to develop the port.
Under the deal, IPGL will invest about $120 million with an additional $250 million in financing, bringing the value of the contract to $370 million, Iran’s Roads and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash said.
For his part, India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar announced that the agreement “will pave the way for greater investment in the port”.
