New U.S. sanctions won’t hit Chabahar port project, says Iran
Context
Iran rejects worries over impact of new US sanctions on Chahbahar project
No effect on Chahbahar project
Striking a defiant note over possible new sanctions against Tehran, Iran’s Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi has said the move will “isolate” the U.S., and rejected any worries that India’s Chabahar project will be affected
Backdrop: new sanctions by US
Shortly ahead of a deadline for U.S. President Donald Trump to issue a waiver on Iranian compliance on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told presspersons that he “expects new sanctions” against Iran
India’s response
Regardless of U.S. policy, the government has made it clear it will not change its commitment to the Chabahar project and special economic zone, which is seen as a major connectivity project at an estimated cost of $20 billion that will help India bypass transit hurdles posed by Pakistan, in order to trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia
Japan is cautious
U.S. allies such as Japan are understood to have expressed misgivings (a feeling of doubt or apprehension about the outcome or consequences of something) over investing in Iran, officials privy to the negotiations have said
- In 2016, before the U.S. elections, Japan had evinced (indicate) interest in partnering with India on the port project, which is part of a trilateral India-Iran-Afghanistan transit trade agreement
Other possible challenges to Chahbahar
Other than US sanctions that may thwart other countries from joining Chahbahar following other challenges can also hamper its future,
- CPEC to PACE: Another possible challenge could come from a recent Afghanistan-Pakistan-China trilateral ministerial meeting in Beijing, where the possibility of Afghanistan joining the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that goes through Gwadar port to make it the Pakistan-Afghanistan-China Economic Corridor (PACE) was discussed
India’s developmental activities in Iran
- The Chabahar Shahid Beheshti port, where India is developing several berths, is on track to be completed in 2018
- IRCON, the government’s railway construction company, has finished a survey to build the proposed $1.2 billion railway line from Chabahar to Zahedan on the Iran-Afghanistan border
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