WASHINGTON: US sanctions went into effect Monday on a major Indian port project in Iran, as President Donald Trump again showed his willingness to punish longstanding partner New Delhi in aid of his wider regional goals — in this case to pressure Tehran.
The sanctions on the Chabahar port come a day after wide UN sanctions also came back into force on Iran, as Trump, European allies and Israel have all targeted the country over its nuclear program.
The first Trump administration issued a rare exemption in 2018 to allow Indian companies to keep developing Chabahar when the United States imposed sweeping unilateral sanctions on Iran, whose main port at Bandar Abbas is overcapacity.
But much has changed since 2018. Kabul was then still controlled by a government backed by Washington, the European Union and India, who viewed Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan with suspicion, accusing it of having ties to the Taliban.
Chabahar had been billed as an alternate gateway to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan, which has long controlled the lion’s share of transit trade into Afghanistan.
