US sanctions on India's Chabahar port in Iran take effect

The sanctions came a day after UN measures against Iran were implemented over its nuclear programme.

US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the exemption is no longer justified as it was initiated to back Afghanistan’s reconstruction. With the South Asian nation now firmly under Taliban control, that logic has vanished.

“The revocation is consistent with President Trump’s maximum pressure policy to isolate the Iranian regime,” Pigott was cited as saying by a global newswire.

The Chabahar project offered New Delhi a strategic gateway into Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan, and helped counter China’s development of Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Baluchistan.

But the situation changed with the Taliban takeover in 2021.

The sanctions imply Indian organisations and companies, including state-run India Ports Global Limited, have 45 days to exit Chabahar or risk asset freezes and a cut-off from the US financial system.

India’s Foreign Ministry said New Delhi is still ‘examining the implications’ of the US decision.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)