Any country having business dealings with Iran runs the “potential risk of sanctions”, the US has warned, noting that it is aware that Tehran and New Delhi have signed a deal concerning the Chabahar port. India on Monday signed a 10-year contract to operate the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar that will help New Delhi expand trade with Central Asia.Located in Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran’s southern coast, the Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman — which New Delhi had proposed to develop way back in 2003 — will provide Indian goods a gateway to reach landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia using a road and rail project called International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), bypassing Pakistan.
US sanctions on Iran over its suspected nuclear programme had slowed the development of the port.
“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-a-vis the Chabahar port as well as its bilateral relationship with Iran,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said.
