2024-07-23 20:03:10
Tehran: India and Iran signed a 10-year agreement in May to operate the Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman. India signed this agreement with the aim of promoting trade with landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asian countries. However, India came under pressure regarding the agreement with Iran. But India has not been affected by this pressure. This is also seen in the budget of 2024-25. Here India has allocated Rs 100 crore for Chabahar port. India has allocated Rs 100 crore for Chabahar port for the fourth consecutive year. This shows that despite US pressure, India is with Iran in this project. Chabahar is very important for India. India can achieve many goals through this. Which includes bypassing China, competing with Pakistan’s nearby Gwadar port and influencing Afghanistan. However, despite all this, the threat of US sanctions remains.
What are the difficulties?
A major obstacle is the US sanctions against Iran. This includes Iran’s blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog against money laundering and terrorist financing, and Iran’s lack of access to the SWIFT system of electronic international payments. Iran cannot transact in dollars. But these are not the only problems. There are also logistical hurdles. Iran has delayed the completion of two railway lines.
America had warned of sanctions
Hours after signing the agreement to operate the Chabahar port for 10 years, the US had threatened sanctions. The US said, ‘Anyone considering business deals with Iran should be aware of the potential risk of sanctions.’ US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel had said that he was aware of reports that Iran and India had signed an agreement regarding the Chabahar port.